Gearbox Entertainment is no longer a part of The Embracer Group after being purchased by Take-Two for a hefty sum.
The gaming industry is changing, and many companies have been acquiring others. Examples such as Microsoft purchasing Activision-Blizzard or Sony acquiring Halo developer Bungie. A new change has come with Take-Two making a purchase. The publisher with subsidiaries like Rockstar Games and 2K Games has a new notch in its belt—the legendary developer and publisher behind the Borderlands franchise, Gearbox Entertainment.
Details About The Take-Two & Gearbox Purchase
Take-Two purchased Gearbox Entertainment from The Embracer Group for a massive USD $460 million. The purchase now means that Gearbox and any of its subsidiary studios are no longer under the ownership of the Embracer Group. Instead, they have a new home with Take-Two. The confirmation comes directly from a press release by The Embracer Group.
The news can be seen as a huge relief for many, as The Embracer Group has been on a streak of selling. Recently, the company had sold off Saber Interactive in a USD $247 million agreement. However, with the many deals that Embracer has been doing, Gearbox would likely have found itself on the selling block sooner or later. A worst-case scenario could have seen Embracer closing down Gearbox. Details of what other companies The Embracer Group aims to sell or close are still unknown.
The purchasing of Gearbox by Take-Two has given them ownership of a lot. Studios like Gearbox Software, Gearbox Montreal, and Gearbox Studio Quebec now fall under the umbrella. IPs like the Duke Nukem series, Risk of Rain, and of course, the Borderlands franchise are now under Take-Two ownership.
Why Is The Embracer Group Selling and Closing So Much?
The Embracer Group is selling and closing many studios because of the need to recoup lost costs. Throughout recent years, Embracer has purchased many studios and spent a lot of money to make many new games. However, as time passed, the company lost money on its investments.
The Embrace Group has been aiming to clear over USD$ 1.5 billion in debt with its sales and appears to have been successful. However, this has come with a deep cost. There have been over 1,400 layoffs in the last year. Numerous studios like Saints Row developer, Volition Games back in August 2023, and Free Radical Design in December 2023 were met with closures. Of course, many companies have done this before. However, with Embracer, the scale and rate the company has been selling have become very buzzworthy. Although the company has paid off its debt, it still needs to earn back cash in order to have a steady flow for its primary subsidiaries. Therefore, it is likely that more closures and sales will happen soon.
The Take-Two and The Embracer Group deal will be finalized in Q1 of the 2024/2025 fiscal year. As we look to the future of the games industry, we may continue to look with both shock and awe as the landscape of companies and their ownership only continues to change.