Aspyr

Aspyr is an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1996 by Michael Rogers and Ted Staloch in Austin, Texas. The company built its name porting PC games to macOS at a time when Mac owners had very limited access to major releases, becoming the dominant force in Mac gaming by the early 2000s. Aspyr has since expanded into multi-platform porting, remastering, and original publishing across PC, consoles, and mobile. The studio was acquired by Embracer Group in February 2021 and operates as a direct Embracer subsidiary following the divestment of Saber Interactive in March 2024.

Mac Porting and Early History

Rogers and Staloch founded Aspyr after noticing that Mac owners had almost no access to major PC game releases. The company name was chosen to mean “to aspire and be great.” Through the late 1990s and 2000s Aspyr brought hundreds of Windows games to macOS, covering major franchises across almost every genre. By 2003 the company held roughly 60 percent of the Mac entertainment software market. That foundation gave Aspyr the licensing relationships and platform expertise that later expanded into Linux, console, and mobile work. In 2005 the studio published its first original AAA game, Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse, for Mac, Windows, and Xbox in partnership with Wideload Games.

Star Wars Portfolio

Aspyr has developed one of the deepest relationships with the Star Wars gaming catalog of any studio outside of EA and Lucasfilm Games directly. The company ported Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic to iOS in 2013 and later to Android and Nintendo Switch, bringing the classic BioWare RPG to new audiences two decades after its original release. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords received similar treatment with updated widescreen support and Steam Workshop integration. In 2022 Aspyr announced a full remake of Knights of the Old Republic, though the project was paused later that year after leadership changes at the studio. Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, a remaster of the original 2004 and 2005 Battlefront games, released in March 2024 and received mixed reviews due to server and performance issues at launch.

Tomb Raider Remastered Series

Aspyr collaborated with Crystal Dynamics on Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, a collection bringing the original three Core Design Tomb Raider games to modern platforms with updated visuals and the option to switch between original and remastered graphics. It released in February 2024 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Tomb Raider IV-V-VI Remastered, covering the later Core Design entries, was announced for a 2025 release. Aspyr also ported Planet Coaster to macOS in November 2020, handling the adaptation of Frontier Developments’ theme park simulation to Apple hardware.

Embracer Acquisition

Embracer Group acquired Aspyr in February 2021 for an initial $100 million with potential earn-outs up to $350 million, placing it initially within the Saber Interactive division. When Embracer sold Saber Interactive to Beacon Interactive in March 2024, Aspyr was not included in the sale and transitioned to operating as a direct Embracer subsidiary. Aspyr continues to operate from Austin under Embracer’s ownership, pursuing remastering and porting projects alongside its publishing operations.