Embracer Group is reportedly set to sell Saber Interactive in a deal worth up to $500 million.
A Bloomberg report, citing a source familiar with the transaction, says the studio is being sold to a group of private investors.
The deal will result in Saber becoming a privately owned company with around 3,500 employees in total across its studios worldwide (including the US, Russia and Portugal).
Saber will also reportedly continue to work on its remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic following the deal.
The KotOR remake was originally billed as a collaboration between Saber studio Aspyr Media and production partners Lucasfilm Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment, and was announced as a timed PS5 console exclusive during a PlayStation Showcase event in September 2021.
Since then the remake has been beset by problems, but a report in November suggested it was still in development.
Embracer has been carrying out a widespread money-saving operation, announcing in June 2023 that it was implementing a restructuring plan which would involve the closure of studios and the cancellation of projects.
The restructuring resulted in 1,387 job cuts, or about 8% of its global workforce, during the six months ended in December. This included cutting 871 internal game developers, 252 internal non-developers, and 264 external developers.
Further reading 4 Embracer cancelled 29 unannounced games between July and December Restructuring plans have also seen seven internal studios closed
Embracer also confirmed earlier this month that, during a six-month period last year, it cancelled 29 unannounced games.
It’s claimed that the $500 million deal will also give Saber the option to bring along a number of Embracer subsidiaries, but no details have been given on which ones they could be.
Last December, Saber announced single-player action-adventure game Jurassic Park: Survival, which is set the day after the events of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film.