Embracer Group, a Swedish video game conglomerate, has reached an agreement to sell Gearbox Interactive, the studio behind the Borderlands franchise, to Take-Two, the parent company of Rockstar, for $460 million. The company had been trying to sell Gearbox for at least a year, the studio it acquired just 3 years ago.
In un comunicado de prensa publicado hoy, Embracer ha anunciado que Take-Two adquirirá la propiedad total de las franquicias de Borderlands (incluyendo Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands), Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms y Duke Nukem con este acuerdo, el cual se espera que se finalice en junio de este año.
Take-Two Entertainment will also acquire the Gearbox studios based in Quebec, Montreal, and Frisco (Texas). However, Embracer will retain several assets from Gearbox, such as Gearbox Publishing San Francisco (which will be renamed), Cryptic Studios, Lost Boys Interactive, the Remnant franchise, Hyper Light Breaker, and “other notable unannounced game releases”.
The acquired assets, which according to Take-Two include two Borderlands titles, two Homeworld titles, and at least one new and exciting intellectual property already in development, will continue to be led by Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox, under Take-Two’s 2K division.
“We are pleased to welcome Randy Pitchford and his team of passionate and talented developers to 2K and look forward to releasing numerous projects in the future as colleagues,” said David Ismailer, president of 2K. “We have enjoyed collaborating with Gearbox on every installment of the Borderlands franchise and are excited to be actively involved in the development of the next installment in the series.”
The $460 million sale pales in comparison to Embracer’s $1.3 billion valuation of the studio in 2021. Embracer has been aggressively “restructuring” since a massive $2 billion deal fell through last year, including the sale of Saber Interactive last month and the layoffs of Lost Boys Interactive and Eidos Montreal in January.
