Saber Interactive Confirms It Will Keep Publishing Indie Games After Space Marine 2 Success

Saber Interactive isn’t planning to stop publishing indie games any time soon, even as its own internally developed titles like Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 continue to rack up big commercial wins. According to PCGamesN, Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits and Head of Publishing Todd Hollenshead confirmed at Summer Game Fest that the studio remains “open to signing deals” with small teams whenever the fit feels right.

The comments come at a pivotal moment for Saber, which has spent the past few years building a reputation for both blockbuster co-developed hits and quieter indie collaborations. With Space Marine 2, Roadcraft and John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando all under its belt as recent successes, the publisher’s willingness to keep backing smaller studios says a lot about how it sees its own identity in a crowded market.

Saber Interactive’s Indie Roots: From The Knightling to Bus Bound

Speaking to PCGamesN, Hollenshead pointed to 2025’s The Knightling, developed by Twirlbound, as a project born out of Saber’s earlier ownership under Embracer Group. “We signed that game in the Embracer years, when we were just sort of going out and signing lots of different things,” Hollenshead said, according to PCGamesN. “I think it was one of the experiments we took on – that style of game, I don’t know that it’s necessarily really where our wheelhouse is.”

Despite that admission, Hollenshead described the partnership as “a good experience for Saber,” per PCGamesN, and the studio has since carried those lessons into other collaborations. He specifically cited its work with Stillalive on Bus Bound, the driving-sim and transport-management mashup that launched at the end of April, as a project that benefited from what Saber learned working with smaller teams.

That timeline matters. Saber split from Embracer Group in 2024 after four years under the Swedish holding company, returning control to co-founder Matthew Karch’s Beacon Interactive. Rather than treating that transition as a reason to retreat into safer, in-house projects, Saber’s publishing arm appears to have doubled down on the indie relationships it built during the Embracer era.

Todd Hollenshead on Future Indie Deals After Embracer Split

According to PCGamesN, Hollenshead was clear that Saber isn’t done signing new indie partners. “We have plans, as they say, to continue to do that in the future,” he said. “We continue to look at independent teams that we would be interested in working with. We are open to signing deals where the fit is right – I think we’ll have more to say about specifics in the future, when those games get closer to where we’re ready to expose them to the public.”

For indie developers watching the space, that’s a meaningful signal. Publishers with major internal hits like Space Marine 2 don’t always keep their doors open to smaller pitches once they can lean entirely on their own franchises. Saber’s stated approach suggests its publishing wing still sees value in diversifying its slate beyond its own studios, even without Embracer’s backing pushing it to sign broadly.

Tim Willits on Scoping Space Marine 2 and Roadcraft Right

Willits offered his own explanation for why Saber’s recent output, both published and developed in-house, has landed so well with players. According to PCGamesN, he credited the studio’s focus on nailing one core idea per game rather than overextending scope. “We have a group of folks that are really passionate about making great games – and we do focus on what’s important in a game, and we scope it correctly,” Willits said. “Our games are not over scope, but they’re a heck of a lot of fun.”

He ran through examples spanning Saber’s catalogue: the swarming hordes of World War Z, playing as a towering Space Marine in Space Marine 2, the mud-slogging driving of Snowrunner, the construction loop of Roadcraft, the over-the-top chaos of Toxic Commando, and the horror hooks of Hellraiser. “We find that thing,” Willits said, per PCGamesN. “We focus on the core of the game, we scope it well, we give the time and resources that they need, and we try to stay small.”

Staying Agile at 3,500 Employees

That philosophy of staying “small” is a striking one given Saber’s actual size. Willits noted that the studio now employs roughly 3,500 people across its various teams and projects, according to PCGamesN, yet insists the internal culture still prizes agility over bureaucracy. “We try to stay small in our decision making by being agile and working on the games that we love, and focusing on what makes those games fun,” Willits said.

That mindset appears to be exactly why Saber keeps room on its publishing roster for indie teams rather than consolidating entirely around its blockbuster brands. For players and developers alike, it means the studio behind one of last year’s biggest Warhammer games isn’t closing the door on the kind of scrappy, focused projects that built its reputation in the first place. With more indie signings reportedly in the pipeline, Saber’s next surprise hit could just as easily come from a small outside team as from its own internal studios.