The director presents the strategic report for the year ended 31 March 2025.
During the development phase of projects, the Company manages work-for-hire arrangements under which development-related revenue is generally matched by the corresponding development costs, and therefore no profit is recognised by the Company on these activities during the development period.
Following the release of a game, the Company earns success fees in connection with the relevant projects. Such fees are determined in accordance with the Saber group's transfer pricing arrangements and applicable cost-plus structure.
The Company employed five employees during the year.
The Company's activities are subject to risks associated with the development and release of video games, including changes to project scope and timing, development costs and the commercial performance of games following release. Delays or changes in the timing of releases may affect the timing and amount of success fees earned by the Company.
As the Company conducts a significant proportion of its activities with other companies within the Saber group, its financial performance and liquidity are also influenced by the activities and financial position of the wider group and the timely settlement of intercompany balances.
The directors manage these risks through ongoing monitoring of projects, costs, contractual arrangements and the Company's financial position.
For the year ended 31 March 2025, the Company reported turnover of approximately £36.0 million (2024: £31.5 million) and generated a profit from its activities during the year.
A significant proportion of turnover relates to work-for-hire development activities for which corresponding costs are incurred. Accordingly, the directors consider the Company's profitability and the success fees earned following the release of games to be more relevant indicators of its underlying performance than turnover considered in isolation.
At 31 March 2025, the Company's financial position included amounts receivable from group undertakings of approximately £11.2 million (2024: £7.5 million) and amounts payable to group undertakings of approximately £8.0 million (2024: £5.0 million). The Company's activities and working capital are therefore closely connected with the wider Saber group.
Given the nature and scale of the Company's operations, the directors monitor the performance of the business primarily through the successful management and delivery of game development projects, the financial performance of completed projects and the fees generated following game releases.
The directors also monitor the Company's financial position, including its intercompany receivable and payable balances and its ability to meet liabilities as they fall due.
The Company expects to continue managing game development work-for-hire activities within the Saber group. The directors will continue to focus on the effective management of development projects and costs and on maintaining the Company's financial position while supporting the wider group's game development activities.
On behalf of the board
The director presents his annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.
The results for the year are set out on page 8.
No ordinary dividends were paid. The director does not recommend payment of a final dividend.
The director who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements was as follows:
Company law requires the director to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the director has elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law).
Under company law, the director must not approve the financial statements unless he is satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the director is required to:
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.
The director is responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. He is also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
We have audited the financial statements of Saber London Limited (the 'company') for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the statement of comprehensive income, the statement of financial position, the statement of changes in equity and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Basis for opinion
Conclusions relating to going concern
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the director's use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the director with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:
the information given in the strategic report and the director's report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the strategic report and the director's report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.
Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above and on the Financial Reporting Council’s website, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud.
We obtain and update our understanding of the entity, its activities, its control environment, and likely future developments, including in relation to the legal and regulatory framework applicable and how the entity is complying with that framework. Based on this understanding, we identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. This includes consideration of the risk of acts by the entity that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud.
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, we designed procedures which included:
Enquiry of management and those charged with governance around actual and potential litigation and claims as well as actual, suspected and alleged fraud;
Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;
Assessing the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations considered to have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the company through enquiry and inspection;
Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
Performing audit work over the risk of management bias and override of controls, including the use of analytical procedures to identify unusual or unexpected relationships and transactions. Data analytics were also used for the testing of journal entries throughout the period and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for indicators of potential bias.
Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
There were no recognised gains and losses for 2025 or 2024 other than those included in the statement of comprehensive income.
The notes on pages 11 to 16 form part of these financial statements.
The notes on pages 11 to 16 form part of these financial statements.
The notes on pages 11 to 16 form part of these financial statements.
Saber London Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 71 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4BE.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
This company is a qualifying entity for the purposes of FRS 102, being a member of a group where the parent of that group prepares publicly available consolidated financial statements, including this company, which are intended to give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the group. The company has therefore taken advantage of exemptions from the following disclosure requirements:
Section 7 ‘Statement of Cash Flows’: Presentation of a statement of cash flow and related notes and disclosures;
Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instrument Issues: Interest income/expense and net gains/losses for financial instruments not measured at fair value; basis of determining fair values; details of collateral, loan defaults or breaches, details of hedges, hedging fair value changes;
The financial statements of the company are consolidated in the financial statements of Mammoth Interactive LLC. These consolidated financial statements are available from its registered office, as set out in note 15.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, bank loans, loans from fellow group companies and preference shares that are classified as debt, are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received, net of transaction costs. Dividends payable on equity instruments are recognised as liabilities once they are no longer at the discretion of the company.
In the application of the company’s accounting policies, the director is required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
In respect of the intercompany game development costs, the company has determined a fair market rate for such services. This was determined through review of a selection of third-party contracts in place throughout the Saber group, and a point estimate was selected based on this range.
Other than the determined fair market rate of intercompany costs, the directors deem there to be no significant estimates or judgements to be applied to the accounting policies in preparing these accounts.
The turnover and profit before taxation are attributable to the one principal activity of the company.
The average monthly number of persons (including directors) employed by the company during the year was:
Their aggregate remuneration comprised:
The actual charge for the year can be reconciled to the expected charge for the year based on the profit or loss and the standard rate of tax as follows:
Amounts owed by group undertakings are unsecured, interest free and repayable on demand.
Amounts owed to group undertakings are unsecured, interest free and repayable on demand.
The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the company in an independently administered fund.
The shares have attached to them full voting, dividend and capital distribution (including on winding up) rights; they do not confer any rights of redemption.
Subsequent to the reporting date, HM Revenue & Customs approved the company's Video Games Tax Relief claim and the company received £9.1 million. At the reporting date, the outcome and amount of the claim remained uncertain and accordingly no asset has been recognised in these financial statements.
The company has taken advantage of the exemption under FRS 102 from disclosing transactions entered into between two or more members of the group, where any subsidiary undertaking which is a party to the transaction is wholly owned by a member of the group.