Tim Willins, the chief creative officer of Saber Interactive, recently disclosed that the company essentially no longer conducts any substantial game development within North America. While Saber still maintains its corporate headquarters and a publishing division on U.S. soil, 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, reflecting a deliberate shift toward a truly international development model. The background to this geographic realignment dates back to Saber’s separation from the Embracer Group in 2024.
Prior to the split, Saber acted as the parent company for several well‑known North‑American studios: Aspyr in Texas, Demiurge Studios in Boston, Tripwire Interactive in Georgia, and Shiver Entertainment in Florida. When the spin‑off occurred, Aspyr, Demiurge and Tripwire remained under Embracer’s umbrella, while Shiver was sold to Nintendo in May 2024.
Another former Saber asset, Beamdog in Canada, also stayed with Embracer. The only North‑American development studio that continued to belong to Saber after the divestiture is New World Interactive, which operates out of Denver, Colorado, and Calgary, Alberta.
New World is best known for the 2018 tactical shooter *Insurgency: Sandstorm*, which received a major update in May 2024. The studio endured a round of layoffs in 2023 as Saber prepared for its eventual split from Embracer. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Willins explained the strategic reasoning behind this worldwide dispersion of talent.
He argued that modern game publishers must be “smart about where you make your game,” and that Saber is open to establishing studios wherever capable developers can be found. “We are not afraid of any territories,” he said.
“Some publishers shy away from markets they don’t understand, but we think, ‘let’s go, let’s find talented people, give them the tools they need, and create something amazing.’ You don’t have to be based in California to be a brilliant programmer, artist, or animator.” Willins also used the interview to criticize the industry’s tendency to pour enormous sums of money into blockbuster projects without clear returns. He cited an unnamed high‑budget title as an example of wasted expenditure, noting that the development cost for *Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2* was roughly one‑third of the budget for a major game that had launched only a few months earlier from a large North‑American studio. Despite the lower spend, *Space Marine 2* sold 11 million more copies than its more expensive counterpart. “You don’t need to spend $150 million to make a billion‑dollar hit,” Willins asserted.
He went on to break down the economics of large‑scale development in the United States. “Big North‑American studios often burn through $2 million or more each month,” he explained. By contrast, Saber’s own *SnowRunner*—a title that has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue—cost the company roughly $6 million to produce, which is equivalent to just three months of development at a typical California studio.
If a big studio takes five years (about 60 months) to finish a game, the salary bill alone can reach $120 million. Adding marketing, publishing, and ancillary costs can easily push the total budget past $150 million, yet the profit per unit sold may only be around $25.
“The math just doesn’t work,” Willins warned. “You have to sell a massive number of copies to break even, and that’s the problem.” The interview underscores a broader industry trend toward decentralization and cost efficiency. By tapping into talent pools in Eastern Europe, South America, and other regions, Saber hopes to reduce overhead while still delivering high‑quality experiences. This approach also mitigates the risk of “studio burnout” that can occur when development teams are confined to high‑cost, high‑pressure environments like those found in major U.S.
hubs. Moreover, spreading development across multiple time zones can enable round‑the‑clock progress, potentially shortening production cycles and allowing for more iterative design. Willins’ comments also hint at a cultural shift within Saber’s leadership.
Rather than viewing geographic distance as a barrier, the company sees it as an opportunity to diversify its creative perspectives and technical expertise. This philosophy aligns with the growing acceptance of remote and distributed work models that have accelerated since the pandemic.
By providing local studios with the resources they need—whether that means state‑of‑the‑art engines, cloud‑based collaboration tools, or access to proprietary technology—Saber aims to foster a global ecosystem of developers who can contribute to its portfolio without the need for a physical presence in traditional gaming hubs. In summary, Saber Interactive’s current strategy reflects a conscious decision to move away from the high‑cost, high‑risk development paradigm that dominates much of North America’s gaming industry.
Through a network of internationally based studios, a leaner cost structure, and a willingness to embrace talent wherever it resides, the company hopes to stay competitive while avoiding the financial pitfalls that have plagued many big‑budget projects. The full interview with GamesIndustry.biz provides additional insight into Willins’ vision and the practical steps Saber is taking to implement this globally distributed model.