The 2011 remake Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary was given to then-independent studio Saber Interactive, who offered to do it for free. Read on to find out how the events unfolded and how a formerly indie team got to work on a popular franchise.
Saber Interactive Offered To Do Halo For Free
A Huge Opportunity For An Independent Studio
In an interview with journalist Stephen Totilo for Game File, Saber Interactive CEO and co-founder Matthew Karch revealed that during their pitch to tech giant Microsoft for the chance to remaster the first Halo game, he said that his studio would do it for free—"Because it’s Halo."
The Xbox executive present at that time was "shocked" said Karch, but he believed that it was the right thing to do for their company. At this time, Saber was a young and independent start-up studio, and getting to work on a huge franchise would have been a massive opportunity for them to get some visibility in the market. "It’s the biggest franchise in the world at the time. I said: ‘It’s like putting a Harvard diploma on your wall. Everyone in the world is going to want to work with me after they see that I’ve worked on this last Halo game, and it is going to open up doors. So I’ll suck it up and I’ll do it at a loss.'"
With such a great deal on Xbox’s part, Saber got the job and eventually, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary was released on the Xbox 360 in 2011. While Karch proposed a low bid of $4 million upon Xbox’s request, the team essentially got no dime or penny from the remake as Microsoft "applied certain clauses" to the contract, effectively reducing any gained royalties to zero.
From Relying On Publishers To Becoming One Themselves
Despite operating at a loss for the 2011 remake, their time would come when Saber was contracted by Microsoft to work on the Halo: The Master Chief Collection alongside other developers like Bungie and 343 Industries. As the developer of the first game’s remake, the studio was also tasked to port Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary to the Xbox One—however, according to Karch, Microsoft forgot to send a contract for the Halo Anniversary port until just before the collection was released.
The CEO refused to sign the contract unless Microsoft removed the royalty-killing clauses that affected the game’s previous royalties on the Xbox 360. Fortunately for Saber, the tech conglomerate agreed to modify the contract and the indie studio was paid handsomely for their part in The Master Chief Collection, amounting to tens of millions of dollars.
This huge payout was exactly what Saber needed to get on its feet for bigger, better opportunities. "We’ve watched other people make money on our work. Now we’re going to make money on our own," Karch recalled saying to partner and Saber COO Andrey Iones back then.
Saber Interactive Now
After their contract with Microsoft for Halo, Saber then went on to expand their horizons, opening up new studios in Spain, Sweden, and Belarus, as well as acquiring other studios such as Binary Motion and New World Interactive under its wing. The company was also able to work on several video game projects, such as working with CD Projekt Red for the Nintendo Switch port of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and developing World War Z under their name.
The Embracer Group acquired Saber Interactive in February of 2020, becoming a direct subsidiary under the conglomerate and maintaining autonomy. Under Embracer, Saber managed to acquire a number of subsidiaries under their company, and develop games such as Evil Dead: The Game. However, due to financial constraints, Embracer Group sold Saber Interactive to Beacon Interactive, a company owned by Saber’s CEO Karch, in a deal that let the company retain all Saber-branded studios and IPs.
Despite the split from Embracer, CCO Tim Willits took to X (Twitter), reassuring fans that work will go on as planned. Saber Interactive is presently working on several titles, including Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (released last September 2024), John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, and Jurassic Park: Survival.
Source:
How Saber got so big on Game File
Who is Beacon Interactive, new owner of Saber Interactive established by its former CEO and Embracer exec
