Saber Interactive founder Matthew Karch has shared some pointed words about the state of the AAA video game market. Speaking to reporter Stephen Totilo aboard a private jet that he paid $23 million for, Karch said incredibly expensive AAA games may become a thing of the past and are contributing to the string of job losses in the market today.
“I think that the age of the $200 million, $300 million, $400 million AAA game is on its way out. I don’t think it’s necessary. I don’t think it’s appropriate,” Karch said.
The executive went on to say he believes the costs associated with making such big-budget games may help explain why the video game industry is seeing so many layoffs today.
“I don’t know how best to put it….I think if anything has contributed more to the loss of jobs, it’s the multi-hundred million dollar budget,” he said.
In 2023, Karch’s Beacon Interactive bought certain assets from Saber’s parent company Embracer as part of a divestiture from Embracer’s business operations in Russia. It was at this time that Karch and Embracer officially parted ways, with Beacon effectively buying Saber our of Embracer.
Before this, Karch lamented how “games are getting cut left and right” due to certain economic conditions within the video game business. “The consolidation that’s been going on in the industry is gonna hurt that as well, and the costs and the turmoil that the industry has been going through… Teams will regroup but the capital at the moment, it just isn’t there,” he told GI.biz. “And so the industry is actually contracting somewhat and the supply of content is going to be way short of the demand.”
Karch has also questioned the $70 price point for games, saying he would prefer not too charge that much and believes it’s “almost not fair” to do so. He cited Helldivers 2, which launched at $40, as being an example of a lower-priced game that went on to enjoy huge success. One of Saber’s biggest recent releases was 2024’s Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, which was priced at $70 despite what Karch thinks about that price point.
Saber’s Tim Willits, commenting on the success of Space Marine 2, said it’s a sad truth that many game studios declare a game a failure if it doesn’t sell 5 million copies. “I mean, what business are we in where you fail if you sell less than 5 million?” he said.
