Tim Willits, the chief creative officer of Saber Interactive, recently disclosed that the company essentially lacks any substantial development presence on the North American continent. While the corporate headquarters and the publishing division remain rooted in the United States, the actual creation of games now takes place across a network of fifteen studios scattered around the globe. These studios are situated in a diverse set of nations, including Serbia, Armenia, Georgia, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Argentina and Australia, illustrating Saber’s shift toward a truly international production model.
Prior to its separation from Embracer Group in 2024, Saber Interactive oversaw a number of North‑American subsidiaries: Aspyr in Texas, Demiurge Studios in Boston, Tripwire Interactive in Georgia, and Shiver Entertainment in Florida. When the split occurred, Aspyr, Demiurge and Tripwire stayed under Embracer’s umbrella, while Shiver was sold to Nintendo in May 2024. Another Embracer‑owned studio, Beamdog in Canada, also remained with the parent group.
Saber does retain ownership of New World Interactive, a studio that maintains offices in Denver, Colorado, and Calgary, Alberta. New World is best known for the 2018 tactical shooter *Insurgency: Sandstorm*, which received a significant update in May. The studio endured a round of layoffs in 2023 as Saber prepared for its eventual break‑away from Embracer.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Willits stressed that game developers need to be "smart about where you make your game" and that Saber is open to establishing studios wherever talent can be found. "We are not afraid of any territories. Some publishers are hesitant to work in regions they don’t understand, but we say, let’s go, let’s locate skilled people, give them the tools they need, and create something great.
You don’t have to be based in California to be a brilliant programmer, artist, or animator," he explained. Willits also took the opportunity to criticize the extravagant budgets often associated with large‑scale North American productions. He cited an unnamed blockbuster as an example of wasteful spending, noting that the development cost for *Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2* was roughly one‑third of the budget for a major title released only a few months earlier by a big U.S.
studio—yet the latter sold 11 million more copies. "You don’t need to spend $150 million to make a billion‑dollar franchise," he argued. He went on to break down the financial realities of high‑cost development.
"Big North American studios can burn $2 million or more each month. SnowRunner, which has generated hundreds of millions in revenue, cost us about $6 million to produce—that’s essentially three months of work in California.
If a large studio takes five years to finish a game, that’s 60 months, or $120 million just in salaries. Add marketing and publishing expenses, and you’re easily looking at $150 million, while the profit per unit might only be around $25. The math just doesn’t add up; you have to sell an enormous volume to break even." Willits’ remarks underline a broader industry trend: studios are increasingly distributing development across lower‑cost regions while still maintaining a global brand presence. By tapping into talent pools in Eastern Europe, South America, and the Asia‑Pacific, companies can reduce overhead, accelerate production cycles, and avoid the inflated payrolls that characterize traditional Hollywood‑style development hubs.
The interview also hinted at Saber’s future strategy. Willits said the company is actively scouting for partners and potential studio locations, emphasizing that cultural and linguistic differences are less of a barrier than they once were, thanks to modern collaboration tools and remote‑work infrastructure.
He believes that a geographically dispersed model can foster creative diversity, as developers bring unique regional perspectives to game design, storytelling, and art direction. In addition to cost considerations, Willits highlighted the importance of flexibility. "When you have studios in multiple time zones, you can achieve near‑continuous development cycles. One team hands off a build at the end of their day, another picks it up as their day begins.
This kind of hand‑off can shave weeks off a schedule without sacrificing quality." The full interview with Tim Willits will be published later today on GamesIndustry.biz, where he expands on these points and discusses how Saber Interactive plans to balance global expansion with maintaining a cohesive company culture.