Tim Willits, 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 in a network of fifteen studios scattered across the globe. These studios are located in a diverse set of countries, including Serbia, Armenia, Georgia, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Argentina and Australia, reflecting a deliberately international development model.
The shift away from a North‑American‑centric development pipeline is a direct result of Saber’s separation from its former parent company, Embracer Group, which was finalized in 2024. Prior to that split, Saber oversaw several well‑known North‑American studios: Aspyr in Texas, Demiurge Studios in Boston, Tripwire Interactive in Georgia, and Shiver Entertainment in Florida. When the corporate restructuring took place, Aspyr, Demiurge and Tripwire remained under Embracer’s umbrella, while Shiver was acquired by Nintendo in May 2024. Another Embracer‑owned studio, Beamdog in Canada, also stayed with the former parent.
Despite the broader retreat from North‑American development, Saber still retains ownership of New World Interactive, a studio with offices in Denver, Colorado, and Calgary, Alberta. New World is best known for the 2018 tactical shooter *Insurgency: Sandstorm*, which received a substantial content update in May of this year. The studio experienced a round of layoffs in 2023 as part of Saber’s preparation for the spin‑off from Embracer, but it continues to operate under the Saber banner.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Willits emphasized that modern game publishers must be “smart about where you make your game.” He argued that geographic location should no longer be a limiting factor for talent acquisition or production quality. “We are not afraid of any territories,” he said. “Some publishers shy away from regions they don’t understand, but we say, let’s go. Let’s find skilled people, give them the resources they need, and create something great.
You don’t have to be in California to be an outstanding programmer, artist, or animator.” Willits also used the interview to critique the industry’s tendency toward extravagant budgets for blockbuster titles. He cited a recent, unnamed high‑profile game as an example of money being “thrown out of the monitor,” pointing out that the development cost for *Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2* was roughly one‑third of the budget of a major North‑American release that debuted only a few months earlier, yet the former sold 11 million more copies. “You don’t need to spend $150 million to make a billion‑dollar franchise,” he asserted. He went on to break down the financial realities of large studios in the United States, noting that many of them burn through $2 million or more each month in salaries alone.
By contrast, Saber’s own title *SnowRunner*—a game that has generated hundreds of millions in revenue—cost the company about $6 million to develop, which equates to roughly three months of a typical California studio’s payroll. “If a big studio takes five years to finish a game, that’s 60 months, or $120 million just in salaries,” Willits explained. Adding marketing, publishing and other overhead can easily push the total cost to $150 million, while the profit per unit sold might only be around $25.
“The math just doesn’t work,” he concluded, “you have to sell an enormous volume to break even, and that’s the core problem.” Willits’ comments illustrate a broader industry trend toward distributed development and leaner budgets. By leveraging talent in emerging markets and lower‑cost regions, Saber hopes to maintain creative excellence without the financial bloat that has plagued many high‑profile releases.
The company’s strategy suggests a future where high‑quality games can be produced outside traditional hubs like Los Angeles or Seattle, provided that studios can access the right tools, infrastructure, and collaborative culture. The full interview with GamesIndustry.biz provides additional insight into Saber’s global outlook, its approach to studio expansion, and the financial philosophies shaping its next generation of games.