LogInAnd it worked.
Xbox
Saber Interactive is a big company known for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Crysis remasters, and Halo: Combat Evolved, but it wasn't always this way. The studio had to make some sacrifices to get where it is now, and sometimes working just for an idea was necessary.
In an interview with Game File, Saber's co-founder and CEO, Matthew Karch, revealed that back in the day, he offered Microsoft to make the Halo: Combat Evolved remaster for free just to get recognition.
“I said I’d do it for free, because it’s Halo,” he shared (via GameSpot). “It’s the biggest franchise in the world at the time. I said: ‘It’s like putting a Harvard diploma on your wall. Everyone in the world is going to want to work with me after they see that I’ve worked on this last Halo game, and it is going to open up doors. So I’ll suck it up and I’ll do it at a loss.'”
In the contract, he had to state a price, so Karch said $4 million, but eventually, Xbox made it so Saber would earn no royalties for the project.
Karch was right in the end, the remaster earned the studio some fame, and Microsoft came back, asking it to remaster Halo 2 and port Halo: Anniversary Edition to Xbox One for 2014's Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Microsoft seems to have wanted to stick to the "free" deal, but Karch refused to sign the new contract until it removed the clause that reduced Saber's royalties. Microsoft agreed, and Saber got "tens of millions" of dollars from The Master Chief Collection royalties.
"We were off and running,' Karch said. "We've watched other people make money on our work. Now we're going to make money on our own.”
With time, Saber became a sizeable company with dozens of games in its portfolio, and Embracer Group bought it in 2020 to then sold it to Karch's Beacon Entertainment in 2024 in the middle of its restructuring, which led to multiple studios' closures.
This story proves that sometimes you have to suffer to get what you want. Would you agree to develop a game for free? Join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.