Embracer Group, a Swedish gaming holding company that acquired several game studios between 2019 and 2022, will be selling Gearbox Interactive to Take-Two for $460 million. Embracer stated in a press release that Take-Two would acquire complete ownership of Gearbox franchises Borderlands (including the spinoff Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands), Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms, and Duke Nukem in the transaction, which is anticipated to close in June 2024. Embracer will retain rights to Gearbox Publishing San Francisco (formerly known as Perfect World Entertainment), the publishing rights to Remnant, Hyper Light Breaker, and other unannounced games, Cryptic Studios, Lost Boys Interactive, and Captured Dimensions.
Everyone’s favorite magician, Randy Pitchford, is still going to lead Gearbox while under Take-Two’s 2K division. Through a separate press release, we also now have confirmation that Gearbox is cooking up a brand new Borderlands game, a new Homeworld game, and “at least one exciting new intellectual property.”
The Chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick, says in their official announcement, that its “acquisition of Gearbox is an exciting moment for Take-Two and will strengthen our industry-leading creative talent and portfolio of owned intellectual property, including the iconic Borderlands franchise… This combination enhances the financial profile of our existing projects with Gearbox and unlocks the opportunity for us to drive increased long-term growth by leveraging the full resources of Take-Two across all of Gearbox’s exciting initiatives.”
Gearbox and Take-Two have been working together for nearly 20 years now, so the acquisition is a natural step forward for both companies. Borderlands was published by Take-Two through its 2K label, and are continuing this partnership through the upcoming Borderlands movie adaptation, as well Gearbox’s sadly forgotten Battleborn back in 2016.
Embracer Group has been gradually selling off some of its several studios since their $2 billion acquisition deal fell apart last year. They just sold Saber Interactive and shut down Volition, the developer behind the Saints Row titles, and scrapped a Deus Ex game that was yet to be announced. They have also laid off over 900 people across Lost Boys Interactive and Eidos Montreal, and more layoffs are expected per the nature of the industry right now. Here’s to hoping this is the start of a brighter future for Embracer Group.