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- Embracer subsidiary Saber Interactive has sold for $247 million | The Midweek Memo #010
Embracer subsidiary Saber Interactive has sold for $247 million | The Midweek Memo #010
Also, the PS5 Pro's specs have been leaked, while Apex Legends developer Respawn has been hit with layoffs and a seriously embarrassing hack.
Hitmarker
March 20, 2024
Hello, Hello 👋
Embracer Group, EA, and Sony delivered a mix of big, bad, and downright bizarre video game industry news this week.
First, Embracer sold its subsidiary Saber Interactive for $247 million. Including its other projects—4A Studios and Zen Studios—the total acquisition number reached around $500 million.
Sticking with Embracer, another subsidiary studio Aspyr Media also released the Star Wars Battlefront Collection, which sparked widespread backlash due to multiple technical and gameplay issues.
Apex Legends studio Respawn Entertainment has sadly been impacted by EA's recent “reorganization”, with several notable employees let go.
Following news of the layoffs breaking, the Apex Legends Global Series was also targeted by hackers who gave players cheats involuntarily, forcing it to be postponed and raising concerns about whether the studio could resolve the issue during an already stressful period.
Finally, on a much lighter note, the specifications for the PS5 Pro have been leaked, with improvements to its GPU, CPU, and memory. A launch is expected later this year!
Hot Jobs 🔥
This week's hot jobs list again covers a wide range of specialties:
[1] 3D Environment Artist
🏢 Millions of Monsters 🇺🇸 Austin, TX 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 2+ years exp
[2] Senior Game Designer, Gameplay
🏢 Millions of Monsters 🇺🇸 Austin, TX 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 5+ years exp
[3] Customer Support Agent
🏢 DECA Games 🗺️ Remote Anywhere 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 1+ year exp
[4] Brand Partnerships Specialist
🏢 MANA Talent Group 🗺️ Remote Anywhere 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 0+ years exp
[5] Age Rating Producer
🏢 2K 🇺🇸 Remote USA 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 1+ year exp
[6] Junior Back-end Engineer
🏢 Jagex 🇬🇧 Remote UK 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 1+ year exp
[7] Associate QA Tester, Game Functionality
🏢 Rockstar Games 🇮🇳 Bangalore 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 0+ years exp
[8] Head of Ad Monetization, Growth IQ
🏢 Yodo1 🗺️ Remote Anywhere 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 5+ years exp
[9] 3D Artist Intern
🏢 Ubisoft 🇻🇳 Da Nang 📄 Internship 🎚️ 0+ years exp
[10] Senior Product Marketing Manager
🏢 Discord 🇺🇸 Remote USA 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 4+ years exp
It’s been another busy week for opportunities! We posted over 180 new ones, and there were some genuine bangers. As always, best of luck to all who apply!
Big News 📰
Embracer has announced the sale of Saber Interactive to a group of private investors for $247 million via Beacon Interactive, a company founded by Saber co-founder and former CEO Matthew Karch.
According to reports, the deal's total value is around $500 million, as the investors have also acquired Metro developer 4A Games and Pinball FX studio Zen Studios.
Saber's previous studios and projects under Embracer have been split between its former and current owners. Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, Jurassic Park: Survival, and the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake have all been sold to the company.
Other News 🗞️
Unfortunately for Embracer, not everything has gone smoothly this week, with Aspyr's Star Wars Battlefront Collection not much short of a disaster. The collection, which includes the original two Battlefront titles, is riddled with technical bugs, and poorly optimized AI-upscaled textures. It was also released with only three 64-player servers…
On the other hand, we have had some good news about Sony's PS5 Pro, with a reliable leak of its specs revealing notable upgrades to its internal components.
Respawn Entertainment has also had a difficult week, as a hacker infected the PCs of professional Apex Legends players, providing them with cheats during a major tournament. This occurred while the studio was undergoing layoffs as part of EA's ongoing “reorganization.”
Here’s a quick overview of two of our LinkedIn posts from the last seven days:
We were calling all types of artists in our latest weekly roundup! 📣
Some highlights from this recent game art job thread include 3D artist positions at Bungie, technical art positions at EA and Rockstar, and a unique storyboard artist position at Heart Machine.
We currently have over 200 open art positions on the platform and are constantly posting new opportunities for artists of all specialties worldwide!
Friedemann Allmenröder, a Berlin-based indie developer, released their first game, "SUMMERHOUSE," to rave reviews on Steam last week, so we just had to check it out.
SUMMERHOUSE is a creative little sandbox title in which you build a neighborhood of small homes in various climates. There are no rules, and you can't win or lose, so it's ideal for those who want to relax.
It's currently available on Steam at a 20% discounted price of $3.99 until March 22, when it will revert to $4.99.
Toodle Pip ✌️
Another crazy week is in the books, we hope we summed it up well enough for you!
Unfortunately, we were again unable to avoid the dreaded "L-word," and it seems we will soon see it again as EA's restructuring continues.
We’ll see you at the same time next week, look after yourself until then!
Best wishes from all of us,
Danny and the gang at Hitmarker 🧡
