{"id":784965,"date":"2026-07-07T14:41:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T14:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/784965\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T14:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T14:41:12","slug":"saber-interactive-we-can-just-do-aaa-games-smarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/784965\/","title":{"rendered":"Saber Interactive: \u201cWe can just do AAA games smarter\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Listen now on Apple<\/a>, Spotify<\/a> or YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n

In This Edition,
Saber Interactive COO Tim Willits on\u2026<\/p>\n

Making games on a budget<\/p>\n

Sticking with licensed IP<\/p>\n

Turok, Hellraiser, Road Kings and Stuntman<\/p>\n

Industry optimism<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t escape Saber Interactive at Summer Game Fest.<\/p>\n

The firm was there showcasing and announcing games such as Stuntman Hollywood, Turok Origins, Clive Barker\u2019s Hellraiser: Revival and a classic collection of remastered Hitman games.<\/p>\n

It sounds like a lot, but it\u2019s just a slice of the games Saber is working on. There\u2019s also a Star Wars remake, a Jurassic Park title, a John Wick project, a game based on Avatar: The Last Airbender and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re big,\u201d says Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits. \u201cWe have 3,500 employees. I don\u2019t know if this is actually true, but I like to say it, we have more licensed products in development than any developer in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Saber showed a new Stuntman game, featuring licensed films, at Summer Game Fest<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve wanted to talk to Saber for a while. It\u2019s an interesting company. It works on an eclectic bunch of licences, from major brands to forgotten classics, to trucking simulators. But it\u2019s also built a reputation for making good games at a reasonable cost. Six months before Clair Obscur became the template on how to make AAA-like games on non-AAA budgets, Saber had already shown the way with Warhammer 40:000: Space Marine 2.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very good at making sure that we scope our projects to focus on the fun and to focus on what really needs to happen,\u201d Willits says. \u201cI play these other games, and I can see these virtual dollars flying out of the screen, and I can see how much money they spend on the dumbest stuff, and I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, God, that\u2019s expensive.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have a culture that allows all of our employees to work on the titles where they\u2019re most needed. There are big development studios where teams get siloed. They\u2019re like, \u2018I\u2019m Team A, and I only work on this game.\u2019 And you have these North American developers with 200 employees working on one title. That\u2019s not going to work. Because everyone knows you don\u2019t need all 200 people in the very beginning and at the very. So, you need to work on other projects. You need to expand. That\u2019s one thing that we\u2019re very good at.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then we also are very smart when it comes to where we do our development. We find super talented people in places that are honestly a little more affordable. But we have experience grabbing resources where we need them, moving people where they are most useful, and the employees love it. People can work on everything from John Wick to SnowRunner to Space Marine 3. So, it\u2019s really been a culture and a philosophy and a business direction that has made us successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an agile approach to making video games, which is quite remarkable when you consider the number of developers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I feel like the guy spinning the plates,\u201d Willits admits. \u201cAnd I\u2019m spinning it up and then I see one starting to wobble and I run over. That\u2019s kind-of how we work. We\u2019re a little crazy, but we seem to pull it off. We find the right leads that have the right vision and passion for a project, and then we give them the time they need. Sometimes we get games done really fast, sometimes it takes a little longer. So be it. But we focus on what\u2019s really important. We focus on the quality experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019re not afraid to take risks. We\u2019ve had huge success with small games. I mean, look at MudRunner and SnowRunner. SnowRunner was literally made by a handful of people, and it has made hundreds of millions of dollars. And then you have Space Marine 2, which is a huge AAA game. I know how much that game costs, and I know how much other games have cost that have been made by big AAA teams, and we can just do it smarter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSnowRunner was literally made by a handful of people, and it has made hundreds of millions of dollars\u201d<\/p>\n

At Summer Game Fest, it was showing three very different games: Stuntman, Turok and Hellraiser. But what would Willits say is a \u2018Saber game\u2019?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have that conversation internally all the time. There really is not a Saber style. Yes, we do great with action games. We do great with mature content. We do great with IPs. But look at [our simulation] games like SnowRunner, RoadCraft, Road Kings, we\u2019ve had success there, too. We do Saber them up a little bit. Like in our Road Kings game, you can be a hero and there\u2019s some natural disasters that you can drive your truck through\u2026 but it\u2019s still a trucking simulator. So, we have a little DNA flavor, but we don\u2019t have just one type of game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Road Kings<\/p>\n

I must confess that one other reason I was eager to talk to Saber is because of Turok Origins. Turok was a series of dinosaur shooter games from the late 1990s and early 2000s published by Acclaim, and based on a comic book franchise. I am a fan of the original N64 games, and I\u2019m excited to see it come back.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, I also found it surprising. The last proper Turok game came out in 2008, and there\u2019s not really been a successful Turok since 1998.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an idea for a video game,\u201d Willits said plainly. \u201cOur game director had a vision. And we have a good relationship with [IP holder] Universal, so we\u2019re like: \u2018Maybe we can build a Turok game with this idea?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Willits knows there will be some original Turok players that will be interested, and he expects that will bring a younger group into the IP, too. In fact, a lot of Saber\u2019s games skew older, whether that\u2019s with IP like Hellraiser, or remastering classic Hitman games. He says he thinks there\u2019s an opportunity for Saber to bridge \u201cthe generational gap\u201d with these legacy franchises.<\/p>\n

But licensed games are no guarantee of success. In fact, in recent times, we\u2019ve seen titles based on Indiana Jones, Avatar and even Star Wars fail to meet expectations. Nevertheless, Saber remains committed to these licensed experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just something that we\u2019ve done well,\u201d Willits says. \u201cWe have a good reputation. And with a licensed game, it does help open the door. Let\u2019s talk about Hellraiser. If we wanted to make a survival horror game and it was our own IP, it would be more of an uphill battle. But people have heard of Hellraiser. People have heard of Space Marine, and Space Marine 2 was a huge success. World War Z, a great book, okay movie, and a super good video game. We\u2019ve had over 30 million people in World War Z. I don\u2019t know this for a fact, but I\u2019m pretty sure that the reason Paramount is looking into making another [World War Z] movie is because of the success of the video game. They have told us that it was one of their most successful licensed properties in their history. That just goes to show you the power of a really good video game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IP can open the door, but the game has got to be great to get people through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Saber is bringing Turok back<\/p>\n

Saber is building a reputation as a strong developer. There are fans of Saber games. So, could there be a time where licensed games are scaled back in favour of original Saber properties?<\/p>\n

\u201cNot necessarily,\u201d Willits answers. \u201cWe have some great brands that belong to us. Toxic Commandos is us, Road Kings is us, RoadCraft, SnowRunner\u2026 we have a number of our own IPs. But we\u2019ve done so well with licensed IPs. We have great relationships with everyone. We work with Lionsgate, we work with Universal, we work with Paramount. And that\u2019s going to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saber is certainly in-demand, and Willits says that a lot of that comes down to the success of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. In fact, that game has \u201cliterally changed everything,\u201d he tells us.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt not only changed the way that the team looks at making games, it changed how people look at us. I\u2019ve seen this in my career, when you have a huge hit, when you go to make the next game, everything has to be awesome. It\u2019s like, \u201cThis has got to be the most awesome toaster ever.\u201d And it fuels success. And because we have a reputation of really doing well with licensed IPs, every major license holder wants to make a video game. It\u2019s just the way it is. Everybody. So, we are in a very fortunate position to turn down more than we can accept. I can\u2019t say the name, but\u2026 you know you\u2019re successful when you\u2019ve turned down those guys. It\u2019s really nice to be in that position.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2<\/p>\n

It sounds like Saber might need to expand further.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still open to growth,\u201d Willits continues. \u201cWe\u2019re still open to acquisitions. We\u2019re still open to organic growth. We want to be smart, of course. We have some great partners. We don\u2019t want to do anything foolish. We just need to be measured. We need to take the opportunities where we have them. And again, if you\u2019re the popular one in the room, you\u2019ll always be turning people down. It\u2019s a good position to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n

When we spoke to Willits last month, he was clearly excited, and it was hard not to be during Summer Game Fest. There were so many promising games being shown to press and public alike. In the weeks since then, the industry has gone through a miserable period of cuts and price rises. SGF feels like a lifetime ago.<\/p>\n

So, I\u2019ll finish today\u2019s newsletter with a reminder of some of that optimism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do believe this is a good time for video games,\u201d Willits concludes. \u201cIt\u2019s been difficult for some people, but if you look at the showcases, and you look at some of the announcements, there\u2019s really great products.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd creative people will always find a way to make something amazing, and those games will be found, and people will enjoy them. The video game industry has been up and down. I\u2019ve been around forever. You\u2019ve been around forever. And really great entertainment will always win out.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it for today. We\u2019ll be back on Thursday with our latest news analysis, plus a chat with a brand new video games website. Until then, thank you for reading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen now on Apple, Spotify or YouTube In This Edition,Saber Interactive COO Tim Willits on\u2026 Making games on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,63,105],"class_list":["post-784965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}