It feels like it has been forever since Embracer purchased Gearbox in February 2021, and today, Take-Two has announced that they’ve purchased the company from Embracer.
In a press release, Embracer announced that they’ve officially sold Gearbox Software and all of their branching studios, including Gearbox Software (Frisco, Texas), Montréal and Studio Quebec, to Take-Two. The deal comes with the Borderlands and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands franchises, as well as Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms and Duke Nukem game licenses on top of the studio divestment. Take-Two paid a whopping $460 million for the divestment, and the reasoning behind the deal was to “significantly reduce net debt, earnout obligations and capex,” according to Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors.
Co-founder and CEO of Embracer, Lars Wingefors, said, “Today’s announcement marks the result of the final structured divestment process and is an important step in transforming Embracer into the future with notably lower net debt and improved free cash flow. Through the transaction, we lower business risk and improve profitability as we transition to becoming a leaner and more focused company,” referring to the previous reports that Embracer said they would undergo restructuring.
Founder and CEO of Gearbox, Randy Pitchford, applauds the sale and says “My primary interest is always Gearbox, especially our talent and our customers. I want to personally assure fans of our games that this arrangement will ensure that the experiences we have in development at Gearbox will be the best they can possibly be.”
While the deal is expected to close in June, Randy Pitchford, the current CEO and Founder, will continue to lead the company. Embracer has listed the retained assets from the sale: Gearbox Publishing San Francisco (will be renamed), including the publishing rights to the Remnant franchise, the upcoming Hyper Light Breaker and other notable unannounced game releases, Cryptic Studios (including MMO titles Neverwinter Online and Star Trek Online), Lost Boys Interactive and Captured Dimensions studios.
Under the continued leadership of Randy Pitchford, a new Borderlands game and Homeworld game is reported to be in development. Fans interested in all of the details can check out the official press release.
