The company’s approach has changed significantly, and licensing opportunities are now flooding in for the studio.
While layoffs, canceled games, and the downsizing of legendary studios are sad times in the upper echelons of game development, at least one company is soaring: Saber Interactive. Previously known for vehicle simulators and mediocre action games, such as World War Z, Saber achieved massive success two years ago with Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. The company achieved tremendous success with the license. According to creative director Tim Willits, the sequel drew attention to the studio from other licenses looking for video game adaptations.
In an interview with The Game Business, Willits said that Space Marine 2 changed everything for Saber. He said that the success of Space Marine 2 gave Saber’s confidence and ambitions a huge boost. The studio’s confidence was further bolstered when potential partners reached out to them regarding collaborations. Willits said several major license holders approached them about potential deals. Following Space Marine 2’s success, Willits said that Saber plans to continue adapting other licenses, such as Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival, because games with an existing fan base are generally safer bets.
“It changed not only the way the team looks at making games, but also how people look at us. I’ve seen this in my career. When you have a huge hit, everything has to be awesome when you make the next game. It’s like saying, ‘This has got to be the best toaster ever.’ And that fuels success. We are in a very fortunate position to turn down more projects than we can accept. I can’t say the name, but you know you’re successful when you’ve turned down those guys. Now, let’s talk about Hellraiser. If we wanted to make a survival horror game with our own IP, it would be more of an uphill battle. But people have heard of Hellraiser. They’ve also heard of Space Marine, and Space Marine 2 was a huge success. World War Z is a great book, an okay movie, and a really good video game,” said Willits.
Hopefully, things will continue to go well from here on out.
Source: PCGamer
