Saber Interactive’s Chief Creative Officer Says Big Studios Are Burning Cash

Saber Interactive no longer has any real game development happening in North America. That's according to GamesIndustry.biz, which spoke with the studio's chief creative officer, Tim Willits.

The publisher and developer behind Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 keeps its headquarters and publishing arm in the United States. The development side is different.

Its actual work spans 15 studios in countries including Serbia, Armenia, Spain, Sweden, Argentina and Australia.

Willits told GamesIndustry.biz that publishers are often reluctant to build teams outside familiar markets. He said some publishers are afraid to work in territories they do not understand. Saber isn't one of them.

It says it's willing to find talented people wherever they are and give them what they need.

The Cost Problem Willits Says North American Studios Ignore

Willits laid out the maths behind why he thinks big US studios struggle financially. Large North American studios, he told GamesIndustry.biz, typically burn more than $2 million a month.

Saber's SnowRunner, which has earned hundreds of millions of dollars, cost just $6 million to make in total.

That figure, he said, amounts to roughly three months of a big Californian studio's spending. The numbers are stark.

Over a five-year development cycle, Willits estimated salaries alone could reach $120 million, with marketing and publishing pushing total costs toward $150 million, against a profit of only around $25 per copy sold.

He also compared Space Marine 2's budget directly to an unnamed major North American release. Space Marine 2, he told GamesIndustry.biz, cost a third as much and sold 11 million more copies.

Willits' Advice For Studios Stuck Between Projects

Speaking separately to Rock Paper Shotgun, Willits described what he called the biggest mistake traditional studios make. He said many keep 200 staff on payroll in places like Texas, California or New York at roughly $15,000 per person each month.

That adds up fast, well before full production even begins.

The trouble comes once a game ships. Willits told Rock Paper Shotgun that studios often have nothing lined up for that same skilled team, forcing them straight into years of expensive pre-production on the next title with no revenue to show for it.

Rock Paper Shotgun noted this pattern has already played out publicly. It pointed to Star Wars: Zero Company's staff being let go before launch, and Ubisoft Barcelona's layoffs following Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.

Willits argued studios with slow-turnaround "mega hits" should take on side projects between releases rather than let staff sit idle. He pointed to Saber's own history of remaster work, including a current project updating the original Hitman.

The studio also builds originals like SnowRunner and licensed titles such as John Carpenter's Toxic Commando and Turok.

The post Saber Interactive’s Chief Creative Officer Says Big Studios Are Burning Cash By Staying US-Based appeared first on Stevivor.