Tim Willins, the chief creative officer of Saber Interactive, recently disclosed that the company has essentially ceased any substantial game development activity on the North American continent. While Saber still maintains its corporate headquarters and a publishing division within the United States, the actual creation of games now takes place across a network of fifteen studios scattered around the globe. These studios are located in a diverse set of countries, including Serbia, Armenia, Georgia, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Argentina and Australia, each contributing to Saber’s portfolio from their local talent pools. The shift away from North American development is a direct result of the company’s separation from its former parent, Embracer Group, which took place in 2024.
Prior to the split, Saber Interactive oversaw several well‑known North American subsidiaries: Aspyr, based in Texas; Demiurge Studios in Boston; Tripwire Interactive in the state of Georgia; and Shiver Entertainment in Florida. When Saber became independent, Aspyr, Demiurge and Tripwire remained with Embracer, while Shiver was sold to Nintendo in May 2024.
Another Embracer‑owned studio, Beamdog in Canada, also stayed with the larger group. Despite the overall retreat from the continent, Saber still retains ownership of New World Interactive, a studio with offices in both Denver, Colorado, and Calgary, Alberta. New World is best known for the 2018 tactical shooter "Insurgency: Sandstorm," which received a significant content update in May of this year.
The studio experienced a round of layoffs in 2023 as Saber prepared for its eventual split from Embracer, but it continues to operate under the Saber banner. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Willins emphasized that modern game publishers need to be "smart about where you make your game." He explained that Saber is open to establishing development hubs wherever talent can be found, rather than confining itself to traditional industry hotspots. "We are not afraid of any territories," he said.
"Some publishers are hesitant to work in regions they don’t understand, but we think, let’s go, let’s find skilled people, give them the tools they need, and create something great. You don’t have to be in California to be a brilliant programmer, artist, or animator." Willins also used the interview to critique the industry’s tendency to pour massive budgets into blockbuster titles without guaranteeing proportional returns. He cited an unnamed high‑budget game as an example of wasteful spending, noting that the development cost for "Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2" was only about one‑third of the budget for a recent major North American release, 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 economics of large‑scale development. According to Willins, many big North American studios burn through $2 million or more each month in salaries alone.
By contrast, Saber’s own hit title "SnowRunner," which has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, cost roughly $6 million to develop—a figure equivalent to just three months of payroll at a California studio. "If a big studio spends five years on a game, that’s 60 months, or $120 million in salaries," he calculated. When you add marketing, publishing, and other overhead, the total can easily exceed $150 million, while the profit per unit sold may only be around $25.
"The math just doesn’t work; you have to sell an enormous quantity to break even, and that’s the problem," he concluded. Willins’ comments reflect a broader industry conversation about decentralizing development and leveraging cost‑effective talent pools worldwide.
By moving production to studios in Serbia, Armenia, Spain and other locations, Saber hopes to keep creative quality high while dramatically reducing overhead. This approach also aligns with the growing acceptance of remote collaboration tools, cloud‑based development pipelines, and cross‑border hiring practices that have become commonplace after the pandemic. The full interview with GamesIndustry.biz provides additional context and quotes, illustrating how Saber Interactive is positioning itself as a globally distributed, lean‑operating studio that prioritizes smart budgeting and talent over geographic prestige.
The company’s strategy may serve as a blueprint for other publishers seeking to remain competitive without succumbing to the escalating cost spiral that has plagued many high‑profile North American developers in recent years.