Saber boss Matt Karch has shed some light on how the deal between Embracer Group and Saudi Arabia's Savy Gaming Group fell through at the eleventh hour. 

Speaking to Game File, the industry vet said that Saber initially was talking to the kingdom about funding for some upcoming releases in the Turok Dinosaur Hunter and Jurassic Park franchises. Things became more complicated, however, when the deal expanded out to cover all of Embracer Group. What had started with a smaller price tag soon was going to cost Savvy more than $2 billion. 

“We knew there was a lot of interest in the Middle East, in particular, in funding,” Karch said. “So, instead of taking Embracer’s cash, where it was becoming harder to do those raises [from investors,] we would go out and we would raise capital.”

“It should have been small, should have been broken up into multiple parts,” he said. “If it was smaller, I believe the approvals would have been streamlined. They were never able to get it approved.”

The deal fell through at the very last second; the problem was that Wingefors had told investors that there was a big deal on the horizon, resulting in shareholder disappointment and cuts at Embracer. 

“There was a handshake," Karch continued. 

"[Wingefors] was trying to protect the business, I think, and he really believed this was going to get done right. And when it didn't get done, he fell on the sword in such a hard way.” 

Neither Embracer nor Savvy have ever confirmed that there was a deal going on. The only reason we know about the interaction is, you guessed it, Matthew Karch.