Elden Ring: How to Get Golden Order Greatsword
Written by Manish Kumar ChoudharyStar Trek: Why Was The Original Series Canceled?
Written by Cameron MillerA Battlefield 3 Remake is Unlikely, But It Really Shouldn't Be
Written by Cameron SwanFinal Fantasy VIII Rebirth: How to Defeat Sephiroth in 3D Brawler (Polygonal Prizefighter)
Written by Tom BowenUpdate: Embracer Group Has Sold Star Wars: KOTOR Remake Dev Saber Interactive In Deal Worth Up To $500 Million
Written by Wesley LeBlanc
Update, 03/15/24:
Last month, we learned that Embracer Group, the company behind the closure of Saints Row studio Volition Games and layoffs at companies like Black Forest Games and Eidos-Montréal, was reportedly set to sell Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake developer Saber Interactive. The deal apparently carried with it a $500 million price tag, according to a Bloomberg report.
Now, it's official: Embracer has sold off Saber Interactive to a group of private investors under Beacon Interactive, as reported by VideoGamesChronicle. Beacon Interactive is controlled by Saber Interactive co-founder Matthew Karch, the publication reports.
Embracer sold Saber Interactive to Beacon Interactive for $247 million, but there was an option for the former to bring Metro series developer 4A Games and Pinball FX developer Zen Studios with it as well, increasing the price tag to around $500 million. According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, Karch and Saber Interactive have decided to enact that option, bringing 4A Games and Pinball FX out of Embracer and with it to Beacon Interactive.
"Today, through a company we formed called Beacon Interactive, we have agreed to buy back the rights to Saber (and all of its worldwide studios and exclusive contractor relationships), Mad Head, DIGIC, Nimble Giant, Fractured Byte, Spligate, 3D Realms, New World Interactive, SPL, Stuntworks, Bytex, 4A and Zen (through options), totaling over 3,000 developers across the world," Karch writes in a letter to Saber Interactive. "We have decided precisely on these studios for acquisition because we believe they represent the best of what Saber is and can be.
"This group comprises some of the most talented and creative developers in the world. Our track record and, more important, the projects we have in development speak, volumes about our capabilities. I truly believe that we currently have the best game collection of game developers in the industry thanks to all of you."
Following the deal, Embracer will still have the following studios: 34BigThings, Aspyr, Beamdog, Demiurge, Shiver, Snapshot Games, Tripwire, and Tuxedo Labs.
Despite 4A Games going with Saber Interactive, Embracer says license and publishing rights to current and future games on PC and console in the Metro series are held by Embracer.
"I am pleased that we have found a win-win solution for Embracer and the parts of Saber that now will leave us," Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors writes in a statement. "This transaction puts both companies in a stronger position to thrive going forward. Embracer is now able to discontinue all operations in Russia, according to a previous board decision, while safeguarding many developer jobs under new independent ownership. At the same time, we keep key companies, valuable IPs, and future publishing rights."
Tuxedo Labs, the studio behind Teardown, released a statement following the deal to discuss its future as a studio previously controlled by Saber Interactive now under the Embracer umbrella. The team says, "This is a big change and it gives us full creative control with a heightened sense of independence and creative liberty. Saber will continue to aid us in Teardown's future development.
"This change opens new doors for us to showcase more of the innovative work happening within Tuxedo Labs. Our commitment to Teardown remains steadfast, with the entire team dedicating our efforts to the game's ongoing development."
You can read the full statement below:
Changes in ownership structure. pic.twitter.com/zi3fIS8DEA
— Teardown (@teardowngame) March 14, 2024
The original story continues below...
Original story, 02/29/24:
Embracer Group, the company behind the closure of Saints Row studio Volition Games and layoffs at companies like Eidos-Montréal and Black Forest Games, is set to sell Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake developer Saber Interactive, according to a new Bloomberg report. Embracer is selling the developer to a group of private investors in a deal worth $500 million, a source told the publication.
Once the deal goes through, Saber Interactive will be a privately owned company and free from Embracer, which is behind layoffs spread throughout the past couple of years. Following the transaction, the studio will continue work on its Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake, which it took over as the developer after Aspyr Media was removed from it in 2022.
Bloomberg reports this sale is another effort of Embracer to cut costs alongside studio closures and layoffs after a planned $2 billion deal with Saudi Arabia-backed Savvy Games Group fell through in 2023. The publication writes one of its sources says the $500 million deal comes with the option for Saber Interactive to bring with it multiple Embracer subsidiaries as well.
Saber Interactive is also working on the recently announced first-person Jurassic Park: Survival.
[Source: Bloomberg]
Baldur's Gate 3: How to Get Amulet of Restoration
Written by Grace BlackPalworld’s First Boss Raid and New Pal Revealed
Written by Pam K FerdinandGTA 6 May Be Rockstar's Chance to 'Steal' a Stardew Valley Feature
Written by Tessandra Zoe SmithGenshin Impact Leaks Quality of Life Features Coming in Version 4.6
Written by Christian MillerMore...
Pokemon GO: Best Moveset for Timburr and Gurdurr
Written by Faith LaneHonkai: Star Rail Announces Double Reward Event
Written by Berat OzkanPokemon Legends Z-A's Future Setting Has Unique Potential With Regional Pokemon
Written by Martin WoodUpdate: Aspyr Working To Address Issues And Increase Network Stability In Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection
Written by Wesley LeBlanc
Update, 03/15/24:
Following the rough launch of Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, which is an HD port combo of the original Star Wars: Battlefront and Star Wars: Battlefront II on modern consoles and PC, developer Aspyr Media says it's working to address issues and increase network stability.
Shortly after the game's launch on March 14, players across all platforms (but especially PC), experienced server issues preventing them from getting into matches as well as other connectivity issues like disconnects, rubberbanding, and more once actually in a match. The result was a wave of disappointment from players excited to play these classic multiplayer games. Now, a day later, Aspyr has acknowledged the issues and is working to fix them.
"We'd like to thank the Battlefront community for their overwhelming support and feedback for the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection release," an update from the studio reads. "At launch, we experienced critical errors with our networking infrastructure. The result was incredibly high ping, matchmaking errors, crashes, and servers not appearing in the browser.
"Since launch, we've been working to address these issues and increase network stability, and we will continue our efforts until our network infrastructure is stabilized to prevent further outages."
Aspyr encourages player to report bugs, errors, or unexpected behaviours to its support team via this request form.
The original story continues below...
Original story, 03/14/24:
We learned last month that Aspyr Media was developing Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, a remastered port combo of Star Wars: Battlefront and Star Wars: Battlefront II, first released in 2004 and 2005 respectively. This collection is now live but it seems the game is having a rough start at launch, especially for PC players.
The viral tweet below posted to X (formerly Twitter) early this morning is indicative of many of the problems PC players are experiencing with the game:
-10,000 people playing on launch night.
— seb ?? (@sebbaku) March 14, 2024
-Only has 3 servers that have 64 slots for a total of ~200 players.
-Multiplayer doesn't work otherwise.
-Price Tag of 35 USD
Jesus Christ I am so disappointed this is robbery, don't buy Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection pic.twitter.com/JB7oCTHzgh
Replies to that tweet highlight some of the other issues players are apparently running into: zero options to party up with friends and a lack of expected quality-of-life improvements (@damnitbobbywhy), rubberbanding (@SoCalZork), and more. However, some players are saying the biggest issues, like a low amount of servers and an inability to actually get into matches, were fixed within two hours of launch.
Over on the Star Wars Battlefront subreddit, dozens of users are posting memes about the game's launch, discussions about connectivity issues, and more. One user posted a screenshot of them downloading the original Star Wars Battlefront games on Xbox (through backward compatibility) to play instead of this collection, while another says this re-release is "hands down the word video game I have ever paid money for." It's clear players on that subreddit are not happy with Aspyr's Battlefront collection.
On Steam, the game, which has a price tag of $35.01, has a "mostly negative" rating after 1,407 reviews – 21 percent of the reviews for the game are positive.
Now, players absolutely have the right to be upset about a $35 game they paid for and are seemingly unable to play at launch, which is doubly unfortunate when it's clear a lot of these players were excited to jump in right at launch. But, there's a good chance Aspyr is already working on fixes for the collection and ideally, a week from now, nobody is running into the issues Day One players are experiencing. That's still not fair to Day One players but if you're a fan of online games like this, you know rough launches aren't all that unusual, as unfortunate as they can be.
Are you experiencing issues in Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection? Let us know in the comments below!