In March, Embracer Group announced it would sell off a number of its game development studios to Beacon Interactive, a recently formed company that controls Saber Interactive, for $247 million. At the time, Embracer stated that Beacon Interactive had the right to purchase two more teams from the company: 4A Games and Zen Studios.
Today, Embracer announced in a press release that it has received $168.4 million from Beacon Interactive and will receive an additional $28.1 million sometime in late 2024 and early 2025. It also announced that Embracer will keep 4A Games and Zen Studios after all and will not sell them off.
Lars Wingefors, CEO of Embracer, is quoted as saying:
We are satisfied with the conclusion of this transaction and very glad to see the great teams and assets of 4A Games and Zen Studios remain within Embracer. They will be important building blocks in our continued journey.
Ukraine-based 4A Games is best known as the development team behind the acclaimed Metro post-apocalypse first-person shooter series. Wingefors stated in the press release, "4A Games currently has two AAA titles under development that we eagerly await to announce."
Hungary-based Zen Studios is best known for its Pinball FX games. The digital pinball games include tables based on major entertainment franchises, including Star Wars, Aliens, Predator, and many more. Earlier this week, Zen Studios announced that the latest Pinball FX game, launched in 2023, had hit 2 million players.
Saber Interactive currently has one of the best-selling games, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. It will release the movie-based game A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead on October 17. We are still waiting for a status update on another Saber Interactive-developed title, John Carpenter"s Toxic Commando, a zombie-themed game that was first announced in June 2023 and was supposed to be released in 2024.