Saber Interactive splits off from Embracer Group taking various studios with them

Good news. Although I was hoping Aspyr and Zen Studios would have also gone with Saber

The last game I heard 3D Realms associated with was around 30 years ago. Now I'm curious what they've been up to.

The last game I heard 3D Realms associated with was around 30 years ago. Now I'm curious what they've been up to.

That's easy: https://3drealms.com/

I'm not really into shooters these days, but I do recognize Ion Fury and I watched Samsai stream Wrath: Aeon of Ruin only last week. Seems solid.

The last game I heard 3D Realms associated with was around 30 years ago. Now I'm curious what they've been up to.

They are publishing Tempest Rising, which is a highly anticipated RTS that will be releasing soon.


Last edited by KohlyKohl on 14 March 2024 at 2:05 pm UTC

The last game I heard 3D Realms associated with was around 30 years ago. Now I'm curious what they've been up to.

That's easy: https://3drealms.com/

I'm not really into shooters these days, but I do recognize Ion Fury and I watched Samsai stream Wrath: Aeon of Ruin only last week. Seems solid.

Wraith is great. It got a lot of heat for taking forever to come out of Early Access, but despite updates being slow and often minor, it always felt and looked great. I haven't played the final version yet, but I really liked the EA versions and from the streams I've seen, the final version does indeed look improved and a nice expansion on the EA version.

I'm eagerly awaiting the day the article is posted "Embracer group files for bankruptcy". Until then, seeing more studio free of their clutches is great news.

It looks less like someone buying companies and more like a deal between two sports teams--"And you get so-and-so, but I get a first round draft pick . . ."

I'm eagerly awaiting the day the article is posted "Embracer group files for bankruptcy". Until then, seeing more studio free of their clutches is great news.

It looks less like someone buying companies and more like a deal between two sports teams--"And you get so-and-so, but I get a first round draft pick . . ."

The selling of Saber have nothing to do with the financial status of Embracer or with their previous missed investments. This is simple done because Saber is Russian and the CEO of Embracer is also involved with renting out property to (among others) the Swedish Defense and they simply have let him know that he should either cut ties with Russia or with them, he can't have both. And it also looks like their business with Saber is infringing on the export embargo on Russia.

edit: I've added a google translate version of an article from SVT (Swedish public broadcasting similar to BBC) who where the ones that "exposed" all of this. Machine translation which also means that he is labelled as "gambling" when they mean computer games:

Gambling billionaire Lars Wingefors and the Embracer Group's business in Russia are identified by security experts as a security risk. This is because Wingefors also owns properties that are rented out to companies in the Swedish defense industry.

Lars Wingefors is the real owner of the gaming group Embracer, which, according to the Kyiv School of Economics, is the Swedish company with the largest turnover in Russia. At the same time, Lars Wingefors is the main owner of a property company that owns most of the premises in the Bofors industrial area in Karlskoga. Among the tenants are several companies in the defense industry.

- You can be exposed to blackmail, infiltration or other things that can spill over into the real estate business, says the security policy expert Patrik Oksanen.


High exposure – high risk

Patrik Oksanen mainly works with security policy at the think tank Frivärld, but also has assignments at the Norwegian Defense Academy and is a member of the Royal Academy of Military Sciences.

- The greater the financial exposure to Russia, the greater the risk, he says of Wingefor's business.

According to an examination by Sveriges Radio, the Embracer group has a turnover of over SEK 350 million and employs close to 900 people in Russia.

In the video above, Patrik Oksanen develops his view of Lars Wingefor's business as a security risk.
Russia connection not known

Among Wingefor's tenants are the defense industry companies Prevas, PartnerTech and Saab. Representatives of Prevas and PartnerTech state that the connection between the property owner and Russia was unknown to them. Saab does not comment on that information at all.

The entire Bofors industrial area is, however, a protected object. This means that you may not stay within the area without permission, photograph, measure or otherwise depict the buildings in the fenced area.
Don't want to comment

Lars Wingefors does not appear for an interview. In a text message, however, he states that security work is A and O for him and his businesses, and that the regulations surrounding listed companies, such as Embracer, are surrounded by rigorous regulations regarding the handling of independence and information.

Last edited by F.Ultra on 14 March 2024 at 3:21 pm UTC

"The next AAA game from 4A Games."
then they relase an "AAAA" game just to piss off this deal :v
indirect at ubisoft.

I despise Embracer Group and PLAION while not particularly caring for Saber Interactive or other studios mentioned in the news.

So… Is it good news? If anything, this shows that Embracer/PLAION is struggling to stay afloat and in desperate need for cash. Good.

The selling of Saber have nothing to do with the financial status of Embracer or with their previous missed investments. This is simple done because Saber is Russian and the CEO of Embracer is also involved with renting out property to (among others) the Swedish Defense and they simply have let him know that he should either cut ties with Russia or with them, he can't have both. And it also looks like their business with Saber is infringing on the export embargo on Russia.

[sarcasm]So, Nimble Giant, 3D Realms, Slipgate, New World Interactive, Fractured Byte, DIGIC, Sandbox Strategies and Mad Head Games are Russian too. Good to know.[/sarcasm]
If Embracer/PLAION could absolutely not have any dealings with anything "Russian" (yeah, sure, like such a thing as "Russian Game Studio" exists… ) then why now? Not, let's say, two years ago?


Last edited by Alm888 on 14 March 2024 at 7:26 pm UTC

I despise Embracer Group and PLAION while not particularly caring for Saber Interactive or other studios mentioned in the news.

So… Is it good news? If anything, this shows that Embracer/PLAION is struggling to stay afloat and in desperate need for cash. Good.

The selling of Saber have nothing to do with the financial status of Embracer or with their previous missed investments. This is simple done because Saber is Russian and the CEO of Embracer is also involved with renting out property to (among others) the Swedish Defense and they simply have let him know that he should either cut ties with Russia or with them, he can't have both. And it also looks like their business with Saber is infringing on the export embargo on Russia.

[sarcasm]So, Nimble Giant, 3D Realms, Slipgate, New World Interactive, Fractured Byte, DIGIC, Sandbox Strategies and Mad Head Games are Russian too. Good to know.[/sarcasm]
If Embracer/PLAION could absolutely not have any dealings with anything "Russian" (yeah, sure, like such a thing as "Russian Game Studio" exists… ) then why now? Not, let's say, two years ago?

Yeah don't think it has anything to do with Russia either. Probably Embracer selling off studios that aren't profitable (and Saber hasn't been exactly profitable in the last little while).

In the article the CEO's name is Matthew Karch, which is not a Russian name

Russia does have game studios like 1C or Mundfish

I despise Embracer Group and PLAION while not particularly caring for Saber Interactive or other studios mentioned in the news.

So… Is it good news? If anything, this shows that Embracer/PLAION is struggling to stay afloat and in desperate need for cash. Good.

The selling of Saber have nothing to do with the financial status of Embracer or with their previous missed investments. This is simple done because Saber is Russian and the CEO of Embracer is also involved with renting out property to (among others) the Swedish Defense and they simply have let him know that he should either cut ties with Russia or with them, he can't have both. And it also looks like their business with Saber is infringing on the export embargo on Russia.

[sarcasm]So, Nimble Giant, 3D Realms, Slipgate, New World Interactive, Fractured Byte, DIGIC, Sandbox Strategies and Mad Head Games are Russian too. Good to know.[/sarcasm]
If Embracer/PLAION could absolutely not have any dealings with anything "Russian" (yeah, sure, like such a thing as "Russian Game Studio" exists… ) then why now? Not, let's say, two years ago?

Yeah don't think it has anything to do with Russia either. Probably Embracer selling off studios that aren't profitable (and Saber hasn't been exactly profitable in the last little while).

In the article the CEO's name is Matthew Karch, which is not a Russian name

Russia does have game studios like 1C or Mundfish

Did you two even look at the text I quoted from the news article? Aka "Lars Wingefors is the real owner of the gaming group Embracer, which, according to the Kyiv School of Economics, is the Swedish company with the largest turnover in Russia"?

So let's look at the history of Saber:

Saber Interactive was founded in 2001 by Andrey Iones, Matthew Karch, and Anton Krupkin.[5][6] Together they created a 3D engine from scratch, gathered a team of artists from Saint Petersburg, Russia and began working on their first game
...
On August 1, 2016, Saber Interactive opened its first internal studio outside of Russia

Ok so was created in Russia and had a Russia only presence for 15 years. Still convinced that Saber have zero to do with Russia?

For crying out loud, it was national news over here when SVT exposed all of this.

7 sep 2023: Gaming billionaire Lars Wingefors is designated as a security risk - has business in both Russia and the Swedish defense industry

7 feb 2024: After SVT's reveal: Embracer wants to liquidate in Russia

14 mar 2024: After SVT's reveal: Embracer is leaving Russia

And press release from Embracer: Embracer Group ceases all operations in Russia through the divestment of selected assets from the operative group Saber Interactive

The last link in English, all others in Swedish.


Last edited by F.Ultra on 15 March 2024 at 12:08 am UTC

Hopefully this doesn't disturb Space Marine 2 release date or quality... Fingers crossed for that one.

I just wanted to play games... why are you guys forcing me to think?

I just wanted to play games... why are you guys forcing me to think?

What's forcing me to think is the blatant conflict between your avatar image and the distro icon next to your name.

(Just kidding. I'm pretty sure liking more than one distro is allowed.)

I just wanted to play games... why are you guys forcing me to think?

What's forcing me to think is the blatant conflict between your avatar image and the distro icon next to your name.

(Just kidding. I'm pretty sure liking more than one distro is allowed.)

Ha, I use multiple distributions, generally I base it on 'what purpose do I want this computer for or which one supports the hardware best.' Ultimately that answer usually is 'Debian'. Occasionally, it's 'I want a specific thing that is maintained as a package in the distribution' so will choose Arch over Debian if it has it, or it's a more current version for a while.

I just wanted to play games... why are you guys forcing me to think?

What's forcing me to think is the blatant conflict between your avatar image and the distro icon next to your name.

(Just kidding. I'm pretty sure liking more than one distro is allowed.)

Garuda for the desktop, and Mint for the really old laptop, which had rolling distros for many years but I don't feel like abusing that poor old Intel anymore.

Garuda, to be honest, starting to give issues after a few years, but it was a good run... almost 3 years with Garuda now.

Anyone who wants to see how Embracer/PLAION/Koch Media deals with true Russian gamedev companies can look at authors of "Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG" ("Dark Crystal Games"). It took Embracer less than a week to cut all contacts, stop all game support (including readied but never to be released patch 1.4) and run away with the money.

So no, I wont buy this "We can't deal with pesky Russians" story.


Last edited by Alm888 on 18 March 2024 at 4:46 am UTC

I despise Embracer Group and PLAION while not particularly caring for Saber Interactive or other studios mentioned in the news.

So… Is it good news? If anything, this shows that Embracer/PLAION is struggling to stay afloat and in desperate need for cash. Good.

The selling of Saber have nothing to do with the financial status of Embracer or with their previous missed investments. This is simple done because Saber is Russian and the CEO of Embracer is also involved with renting out property to (among others) the Swedish Defense and they simply have let him know that he should either cut ties with Russia or with them, he can't have both. And it also looks like their business with Saber is infringing on the export embargo on Russia.

[sarcasm]So, Nimble Giant, 3D Realms, Slipgate, New World Interactive, Fractured Byte, DIGIC, Sandbox Strategies and Mad Head Games are Russian too. Good to know.[/sarcasm]
If Embracer/PLAION could absolutely not have any dealings with anything "Russian" (yeah, sure, like such a thing as "Russian Game Studio" exists… ) then why now? Not, let's say, two years ago?

Yeah don't think it has anything to do with Russia either. Probably Embracer selling off studios that aren't profitable (and Saber hasn't been exactly profitable in the last little while).

In the article the CEO's name is Matthew Karch, which is not a Russian name

Russia does have game studios like 1C or Mundfish

I despise Embracer Group and PLAION while not particularly caring for Saber Interactive or other studios mentioned in the news.

So… Is it good news? If anything, this shows that Embracer/PLAION is struggling to stay afloat and in desperate need for cash. Good.

The selling of Saber have nothing to do with the financial status of Embracer or with their previous missed investments. This is simple done because Saber is Russian and the CEO of Embracer is also involved with renting out property to (among others) the Swedish Defense and they simply have let him know that he should either cut ties with Russia or with them, he can't have both. And it also looks like their business with Saber is infringing on the export embargo on Russia.

[sarcasm]So, Nimble Giant, 3D Realms, Slipgate, New World Interactive, Fractured Byte, DIGIC, Sandbox Strategies and Mad Head Games are Russian too. Good to know.[/sarcasm]
If Embracer/PLAION could absolutely not have any dealings with anything "Russian" (yeah, sure, like such a thing as "Russian Game Studio" exists… ) then why now? Not, let's say, two years ago?

Yeah don't think it has anything to do with Russia either. Probably Embracer selling off studios that aren't profitable (and Saber hasn't been exactly profitable in the last little while).

In the article the CEO's name is Matthew Karch, which is not a Russian name

Russia does have game studios like 1C or Mundfish

Did you two even look at the text I quoted from the news article? Aka "Lars Wingefors is the real owner of the gaming group Embracer, which, according to the Kyiv School of Economics, is the Swedish company with the largest turnover in Russia"?

So let's look at the history of Saber:

Saber Interactive was founded in 2001 by Andrey Iones, Matthew Karch, and Anton Krupkin.[5][6] Together they created a 3D engine from scratch, gathered a team of artists from Saint Petersburg, Russia and began working on their first game
...
On August 1, 2016, Saber Interactive opened its first internal studio outside of Russia

Ok so was created in Russia and had a Russia only presence for 15 years. Still convinced that Saber have zero to do with Russia?

For crying out loud, it was national news over here when SVT exposed all of this.

7 sep 2023: Gaming billionaire Lars Wingefors is designated as a security risk - has business in both Russia and the Swedish defense industry

7 feb 2024: After SVT's reveal: Embracer wants to liquidate in Russia

14 mar 2024: After SVT's reveal: Embracer is leaving Russia

And press release from Embracer: Embracer Group ceases all operations in Russia through the divestment of selected assets from the operative group Saber Interactive

The last link in English, all others in Swedish.

We now quote the "Kiev School of Econoimcs" as a remotely reliable source?

Plus Sweden is notoriously Russophobic, just because a few people with Russian sounding names opened a company does not make it "Russian". Besides, Saber has been an international company for ages - I am highly skeptical of claims it remains "Russian". Especially considering Russia doesn't have a gaming industry.

They might not be a reliable source of information for how to do things and such, but when it comes to information on which swedish company that have the largest economic investment inside Russia? Yes I would count them as a reliable source for that kind of information.

No one is claiming that Saber is "Russians", the claim is that Saber have studios and economic resources inside Russia, also no one is making that claim based on the names of the founders, it is based on the very fact that the company was founded in St Petersburg, you know that this is a city in Russia yes? They also opened their first studio outside of Russia in 2016 after having operated for 15 years (so obviously they have something inside Russia or do you suggest that they just sat there doing nothing for 15 years?)

And no gaming industry in Russia? The Russian gaming market was worth $3.4B in 2021. I'm not entirely sure what your point is here.

Anyone who wants to see how Embracer/PLAION/Koch Media deals with true Russian gamedev companies can look at authors of "Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG" ("Dark Crystal Games"). It took Embracer less than a week to cut all contacts, stop all game support (including readied but never to be released patch 1.4) and run away with the money.

So no, I wont buy this "We can't deal with pesky Russians" story.

So let me get this straight, Embracer themselves and all media is lying for some unknown nefarious reason?

Also not entirely sure why you are conflating layoffs with finding buyers for valuable assets that you suddenly have to sell off? Remeber that Saber was a founding member of Embracer so this is not something that they really wanted to do.


Last edited by F.Ultra on 18 March 2024 at 3:47 pm UTC

I despise Embracer Group and PLAION while not particularly caring for Saber Interactive or other studios mentioned in the news.

So… Is it good news? If anything, this shows that Embracer/PLAION is struggling to stay afloat and in desperate need for cash. Good.

The selling of Saber have nothing to do with the financial status of Embracer or with their previous missed investments. This is simple done because Saber is Russian and the CEO of Embracer is also involved with renting out property to (among others) the Swedish Defense and they simply have let him know that he should either cut ties with Russia or with them, he can't have both. And it also looks like their business with Saber is infringing on the export embargo on Russia.

[sarcasm]So, Nimble Giant, 3D Realms, Slipgate, New World Interactive, Fractured Byte, DIGIC, Sandbox Strategies and Mad Head Games are Russian too. Good to know.[/sarcasm]
If Embracer/PLAION could absolutely not have any dealings with anything "Russian" (yeah, sure, like such a thing as "Russian Game Studio" exists… ) then why now? Not, let's say, two years ago?

Yeah don't think it has anything to do with Russia either. Probably Embracer selling off studios that aren't profitable (and Saber hasn't been exactly profitable in the last little while).

In the article the CEO's name is Matthew Karch, which is not a Russian name

Russia does have game studios like 1C or Mundfish

I despise Embracer Group and PLAION while not particularly caring for Saber Interactive or other studios mentioned in the news.

So… Is it good news? If anything, this shows that Embracer/PLAION is struggling to stay afloat and in desperate need for cash. Good.

The selling of Saber have nothing to do with the financial status of Embracer or with their previous missed investments. This is simple done because Saber is Russian and the CEO of Embracer is also involved with renting out property to (among others) the Swedish Defense and they simply have let him know that he should either cut ties with Russia or with them, he can't have both. And it also looks like their business with Saber is infringing on the export embargo on Russia.

[sarcasm]So, Nimble Giant, 3D Realms, Slipgate, New World Interactive, Fractured Byte, DIGIC, Sandbox Strategies and Mad Head Games are Russian too. Good to know.[/sarcasm]
If Embracer/PLAION could absolutely not have any dealings with anything "Russian" (yeah, sure, like such a thing as "Russian Game Studio" exists… ) then why now? Not, let's say, two years ago?

Yeah don't think it has anything to do with Russia either. Probably Embracer selling off studios that aren't profitable (and Saber hasn't been exactly profitable in the last little while).

In the article the CEO's name is Matthew Karch, which is not a Russian name

Russia does have game studios like 1C or Mundfish

Did you two even look at the text I quoted from the news article? Aka "Lars Wingefors is the real owner of the gaming group Embracer, which, according to the Kyiv School of Economics, is the Swedish company with the largest turnover in Russia"?

So let's look at the history of Saber:

Saber Interactive was founded in 2001 by Andrey Iones, Matthew Karch, and Anton Krupkin.[5][6] Together they created a 3D engine from scratch, gathered a team of artists from Saint Petersburg, Russia and began working on their first game
...
On August 1, 2016, Saber Interactive opened its first internal studio outside of Russia

Ok so was created in Russia and had a Russia only presence for 15 years. Still convinced that Saber have zero to do with Russia?

For crying out loud, it was national news over here when SVT exposed all of this.

7 sep 2023: Gaming billionaire Lars Wingefors is designated as a security risk - has business in both Russia and the Swedish defense industry

7 feb 2024: After SVT's reveal: Embracer wants to liquidate in Russia

14 mar 2024: After SVT's reveal: Embracer is leaving Russia

And press release from Embracer: Embracer Group ceases all operations in Russia through the divestment of selected assets from the operative group Saber Interactive

The last link in English, all others in Swedish.

We now quote the "Kiev School of Econoimcs" as a remotely reliable source?

Plus Sweden is notoriously Russophobic, just because a few people with Russian sounding names opened a company does not make it "Russian". Besides, Saber has been an international company for ages - I am highly skeptical of claims it remains "Russian". Especially considering Russia doesn't have a gaming industry.

They might not be a reliable source of information for how to do things and such, but when it comes to information on which swedish company that have the largest economic investment inside Russia? Yes I would count them as a reliable source for that kind of information.

No one is claiming that Saber is "Russians", the claim is that Saber have studios and economic resources inside Russia, also no one is making that claim based on the names of the founders, it is based on the very fact that the company was founded in St Petersburg, you know that this is a city in Russia yes? They also opened their first studio outside of Russia in 2016 after having operated for 15 years (so obviously they have something inside Russia or do you suggest that they just sat there doing nothing for 15 years?)

And no gaming industry in Russia? The Russian gaming market was worth $3.4B in 2021. I'm not entirely sure what your point is here.

Anyone who wants to see how Embracer/PLAION/Koch Media deals with true Russian gamedev companies can look at authors of "Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG" ("Dark Crystal Games"). It took Embracer less than a week to cut all contacts, stop all game support (including readied but never to be released patch 1.4) and run away with the money.

So no, I wont buy this "We can't deal with pesky Russians" story.

So let me get this straight, Embracer themselves and all media is lying for some unknown nefarious reason?

Also not entirely sure why you are conflating layoffs with finding buyers for valuable assets that you suddenly have to sell off? Remeber that Saber was a founding member of Embracer so this is not something that they really wanted to do.

Just because a company may or may not have been opened in St Petersburg, doesn't mean it is Russian. One of the founders of the company even has a non-Russian name! Look at companies like Mundfish or OwlCatGames, they opened in Moscow but are Cypriote companies and have no issues trading abroad. Same with Saber. Feels like its a purposeful targetting of companies on the claim they have "business in Russia" (which is unconfirmed).


You can join the discord channel for "Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG" and talk to the lead devs of the project. I can post the discord invite here. They said that they had prepared the patch and wanted to keep the project going as they were passionate about it, but Embracer held the 1.4 patch and started withholding all the money from sales so the company had no means of surviving and so had to close down. There were no "layoffs". There was purposeful and intentional killing of the company for things they didn't do. They said the patch is still in limbo and many people are asking them to upload the patch elsewhere to play but they don't want legal issues. So yeah, I also don't buy the claim that it has to do with "dealing with pesky Russians" as the other poster said.

If you think Russia has a gaming industry - name 3 large games similar to Call of Duty, God of War or WOW that has come out of there. You likely can't because Russia doesn't have a gaming industry.

So your theory here is that people falsely accuse Embracer of having studios, and resources in Russia just for the lulz. Then Embracer instead of denying this decides to go with the flow, sells of profitable parts which includes their founding company, Saber and releases a press release where they write "Through this divestment, Embracer ceases all operations in Russia"?

Still have zero clue what Dark Crystal Games have to do with any of this. Embracer did layoffs and project cancellations there as part of their restructuring after their large planned investment went to hell. This case with Saber is them selling off profitable studios for a total of $247M.

You argue like they should have just liquidated the Saber parts and thus loose $247M if they wanted to get rid of the Russia stuff. That doesn't make any sense in the world.

And sorry, didn't know that only games the size of Call of Duty counted, then lots of countries doesn't have game studios anymore if that is the definition.

This are the studios listed on Wikipedia that Saber have in Russia: Bytex, Saber St. Petersburg, SmartPhone Labs and Stuntworks. But I take it that this list is faked as well?

I despise Embracer Group and PLAION while not particularly caring for Saber Interactive or other studios mentioned in the news.

So… Is it good news? If anything, this shows that Embracer/PLAION is struggling to stay afloat and in desperate need for cash. Good.

The selling of Saber have nothing to do with the financial status of Embracer or with their previous missed investments. This is simple done because Saber is Russian and the CEO of Embracer is also involved with renting out property to (among others) the Swedish Defense and they simply have let him know that he should either cut ties with Russia or with them, he can't have both. And it also looks like their business with Saber is infringing on the export embargo on Russia.

[sarcasm]So, Nimble Giant, 3D Realms, Slipgate, New World Interactive, Fractured Byte, DIGIC, Sandbox Strategies and Mad Head Games are Russian too. Good to know.[/sarcasm]
If Embracer/PLAION could absolutely not have any dealings with anything "Russian" (yeah, sure, like such a thing as "Russian Game Studio" exists… ) then why now? Not, let's say, two years ago?

Yeah don't think it has anything to do with Russia either. Probably Embracer selling off studios that aren't profitable (and Saber hasn't been exactly profitable in the last little while).

In the article the CEO's name is Matthew Karch, which is not a Russian name

Russia does have game studios like 1C or Mundfish

I despise Embracer Group and PLAION while not particularly caring for Saber Interactive or other studios mentioned in the news.

So… Is it good news? If anything, this shows that Embracer/PLAION is struggling to stay afloat and in desperate need for cash. Good.

The selling of Saber have nothing to do with the financial status of Embracer or with their previous missed investments. This is simple done because Saber is Russian and the CEO of Embracer is also involved with renting out property to (among others) the Swedish Defense and they simply have let him know that he should either cut ties with Russia or with them, he can't have both. And it also looks like their business with Saber is infringing on the export embargo on Russia.

[sarcasm]So, Nimble Giant, 3D Realms, Slipgate, New World Interactive, Fractured Byte, DIGIC, Sandbox Strategies and Mad Head Games are Russian too. Good to know.[/sarcasm]
If Embracer/PLAION could absolutely not have any dealings with anything "Russian" (yeah, sure, like such a thing as "Russian Game Studio" exists… ) then why now? Not, let's say, two years ago?

Yeah don't think it has anything to do with Russia either. Probably Embracer selling off studios that aren't profitable (and Saber hasn't been exactly profitable in the last little while).

In the article the CEO's name is Matthew Karch, which is not a Russian name

Russia does have game studios like 1C or Mundfish

Did you two even look at the text I quoted from the news article? Aka "Lars Wingefors is the real owner of the gaming group Embracer, which, according to the Kyiv School of Economics, is the Swedish company with the largest turnover in Russia"?

So let's look at the history of Saber:

Saber Interactive was founded in 2001 by Andrey Iones, Matthew Karch, and Anton Krupkin.[5][6] Together they created a 3D engine from scratch, gathered a team of artists from Saint Petersburg, Russia and began working on their first game
...
On August 1, 2016, Saber Interactive opened its first internal studio outside of Russia

Ok so was created in Russia and had a Russia only presence for 15 years. Still convinced that Saber have zero to do with Russia?

For crying out loud, it was national news over here when SVT exposed all of this.

7 sep 2023: Gaming billionaire Lars Wingefors is designated as a security risk - has business in both Russia and the Swedish defense industry

7 feb 2024: After SVT's reveal: Embracer wants to liquidate in Russia

14 mar 2024: After SVT's reveal: Embracer is leaving Russia

And press release from Embracer: Embracer Group ceases all operations in Russia through the divestment of selected assets from the operative group Saber Interactive

The last link in English, all others in Swedish.

We now quote the "Kiev School of Econoimcs" as a remotely reliable source?

Plus Sweden is notoriously Russophobic, just because a few people with Russian sounding names opened a company does not make it "Russian". Besides, Saber has been an international company for ages - I am highly skeptical of claims it remains "Russian". Especially considering Russia doesn't have a gaming industry.

They might not be a reliable source of information for how to do things and such, but when it comes to information on which swedish company that have the largest economic investment inside Russia? Yes I would count them as a reliable source for that kind of information.

No one is claiming that Saber is "Russians", the claim is that Saber have studios and economic resources inside Russia, also no one is making that claim based on the names of the founders, it is based on the very fact that the company was founded in St Petersburg, you know that this is a city in Russia yes? They also opened their first studio outside of Russia in 2016 after having operated for 15 years (so obviously they have something inside Russia or do you suggest that they just sat there doing nothing for 15 years?)

And no gaming industry in Russia? The Russian gaming market was worth $3.4B in 2021. I'm not entirely sure what your point is here.

Anyone who wants to see how Embracer/PLAION/Koch Media deals with true Russian gamedev companies can look at authors of "Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG" ("Dark Crystal Games"). It took Embracer less than a week to cut all contacts, stop all game support (including readied but never to be released patch 1.4) and run away with the money.

So no, I wont buy this "We can't deal with pesky Russians" story.

So let me get this straight, Embracer themselves and all media is lying for some unknown nefarious reason?

Also not entirely sure why you are conflating layoffs with finding buyers for valuable assets that you suddenly have to sell off? Remeber that Saber was a founding member of Embracer so this is not something that they really wanted to do.

Just because a company may or may not have been opened in St Petersburg, doesn't mean it is Russian. One of the founders of the company even has a non-Russian name! Look at companies like Mundfish or OwlCatGames, they opened in Moscow but are Cypriote companies and have no issues trading abroad. Same with Saber. Feels like its a purposeful targetting of companies on the claim they have "business in Russia" (which is unconfirmed).


You can join the discord channel for "Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG" and talk to the lead devs of the project. I can post the discord invite here. They said that they had prepared the patch and wanted to keep the project going as they were passionate about it, but Embracer held the 1.4 patch and started withholding all the money from sales so the company had no means of surviving and so had to close down. There were no "layoffs". There was purposeful and intentional killing of the company for things they didn't do. They said the patch is still in limbo and many people are asking them to upload the patch elsewhere to play but they don't want legal issues. So yeah, I also don't buy the claim that it has to do with "dealing with pesky Russians" as the other poster said.

If you think Russia has a gaming industry - name 3 large games similar to Call of Duty, God of War or WOW that has come out of there. You likely can't because Russia doesn't have a gaming industry.

So your theory here is that people falsely accuse Embracer of having studios, and resources in Russia just for the lulz. Then Embracer instead of denying this decides to go with the flow, sells of profitable parts which includes their founding company, Saber and releases a press release where they write "Through this divestment, Embracer ceases all operations in Russia"?

Still have zero clue what Dark Crystal Games have to do with any of this. Embracer did layoffs and project cancellations there as part of their restructuring after their large planned investment went to hell. This case with Saber is them selling off profitable studios for a total of $247M.

You argue like they should have just liquidated the Saber parts and thus loose $247M if they wanted to get rid of the Russia stuff. That doesn't make any sense in the world.

And sorry, didn't know that only games the size of Call of Duty counted, then lots of countries doesn't have game studios anymore if that is the definition.

This are the studios listed on Wikipedia that Saber have in Russia: Bytex, Saber St. Petersburg, SmartPhone Labs and Stuntworks. But I take it that this list is faked as well?

My "theory" is that for political reasons the owner/CEO of Embracer was having troubles and to force him to behave they blamed the dastardly Russians (after all what better excuse do they need).

What do layoffs have to do with Encased? Encased team wasn't laid off. They were working on the game prior to Embracer beginning to withhold payments and completed patches for the game. This just goes to show that Embracer had already "ceased operations" in Russia prior to this and that this is merely an official confirmation of what they did years ago for political reasons.

See you even support my claim - Saber is not a Russian company. Saber may have a studio in St Petersburg, but so did Microsoft. Did that make Microsoft a Russian company? The fact that Saber bought its freedom from Embracer doesn't have anything to do with Russia and has everything to do with Embracers financial problems/internal Swedish politics.

And what are those political reasons?

And it would help if you where reading what I write, I did not say that Saber was a Russian company (my very first comment might have been a bit badly worded but I have written about this now in several comments to you), I did say that Saber was the owner of those Russian resources that where the problem for Embracer.

Layoffs have to do with it because Embracer was doing layoffs and cutbacks in some of it's subsidies, including Dark Crystal, at the time of the events that you describe happening to that game. And how on earth can you not see that there is a world of difference between cutting down + ceasing payments for a small subsidiary vs selling of assets worth $247M? Your argument here is that Embracer should just throw $247M in the trash to cease business in Russia instead of selling of the assets, you have yet to explain this part.

And btw, what are your problems with the Kyiv School of Economics? Is it just because they are from Ukraine? I think I might have started to get why you are so upset about my comments.


Last edited by F.Ultra on 18 March 2024 at 8:18 pm UTC