- Gearbox Entertainment has been acquired by Take-Two Interactive from Embracer Group. With that, they now own the Borderlands, Homeworld, Duke Nukem, and any future Gearbox games.
- Embracer sold off the studio to Take-Two for $460 million.
- As the news gets official, Take-Two Interactive has also announced that the next Borderlands game is being actively developed.
In a turn of events that has barely shocked anyone, Gearbox Entertainment has been acquired by Take-Two Interactive and will be joining the 2K Games family. Now, you must be wondering why this is a no-brainer. Well, Embracer Group, infamous for purchasing numerous studios in the last couple of years, was planning to sell Gearbox. Given 2K Games’ long-standing history with Gearbox Entertainment through the Borderlands franchise, it was almost obvious that Take-Two would purchase the company.
Announced this morning through an official X post by Gearbox Entertainment and an Embracer Group report, the company confirmed joining the 2K Games family. Randy Pitchford, the studio founder, shared the main points of the studio joining 2K games.
Furthermore, he expressed his excitement about the development. Per the Take-Two Interactive report, they paid $460 million to purchase the company. That is cheaper than what Embracer Group paid in 2021, which amounted to $1.3 billion. This acquisition should wrap up by June 30, 2024.
With this sale, Take-Two Interactive owns the Borderlands, Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms, and Duke Nukem franchises. It also owns any future games developed by Gearbox. Since it owns Borderlands, it announced that the next Borderlands game is in active development. No other details have emerged online, but if you are a fan of the series, I think you have something to look forward to in the upcoming months.
The Embracer Group is a cautionary tale about how you shouldn’t let an entity gulp away studio after studio. This further proves my assumptions that the company gambled on that Saudi Arabia investment when it started purchasing the studios during the lockdown.
However, when that deal didn’t materialize, it panicked and started selling and shutting down studios. So, kudos to Gearbox for managing to get themselves a better home.
Let us know what you think of this development in the comments below.
