Weeks after reports said that Gearbox Entertainment was close to a potential sale, Embracer Group confirmed the sale of most of the company, including key IPs like Borderlands, to Take-Two Interactive in a stock deal worth $460 million.
Gearbox will move under Take-Two’s 2K division, with CEO Randy Pitchford continuing in that role. In a press release announcing the deal, Embracer Group confirmed that the deal includes Gearbox Software, Gearbox Montreal, Gearbox Quebec, along with the Borderlands and Tiny Tina’s Wonderland franchises, and the Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms, and Duke Nukem IPs. Those move in the Take-Two deal, bringing Borderlands’ development and longtime publisher together.
Embracer Group is holding onto a few key properties. Notably, Cryptic Studios, along with its MMOs, like Star Trek Online, Neverwinter, and Champions Online. Late last week, Cryptic held a special stream on the future of its games, promising that the teams would keep working on their MMORPGs for some time and unveiling roadmaps for each of them. Embracer will also keep Gearbox Publishing San Francisco, which it will rename, as well as Lost Boys Interactive, and Captured Dimensions.
Take-Two also released its own press release on the acquisition of most of Gearbox, and in it, says that “Gearbox currently has six key interactive entertainment projects in various stages of development, including five sequels, two of which are from the Borderlands and Homeworld franchises, and at least one exciting new intellectual property”.
Embracer Group has been on a restructuring plan that has seen them lay off more than 1,000 employees, close several studios, including Volition, sell off Saber Interactive last week, and make additional cuts. Gearbox had reportedly been up for potential sale for a while now, with some rumors surfacing last fall, and reports in early March that a sale or some sort of move was coming within the next month.
