Embracer Group acquired Gearbox three years ago in a deal worth up to $1.3 billion. Today’s sale is valued at $460 million.
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Swedish gaming conglomerate Embracer Group has entered an agreement to sell Gearbox Interactive to Rockstar parent company Take-Two for $460 million. In a press release published on Thursday, Embracer announced that Take-Two will acquire full ownership over the Borderlands (including Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands), Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms, and Duke Nukem franchises in the deal, which is expected to be finalized by June 2024.
Take-Two Entertainment will also acquire the Gearbox studios based in Quebec, Montréal, and Frisco, Texas. Embracer will, however, retain several Gearbox assets, including 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 exciting new intellectual property” already in development — will continue being led by Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford under Take-Two’s 2K division.
“We are thrilled to welcome Randy Pitchford and his team of passionate, talented developers to 2K and we look forward to releasing numerous projects in the future as colleagues,” said 2K president David Ismailer. “We have loved partnering with Gearbox on every iteration of the Borderlands franchise and are excited to be in active development on the next installment in the series.”
The $460 million sale — which has been expected for some time — pales in comparison to the $1.3 billion Embracer valued the business at in 2021. Embracer has been aggressively “restructuring” ever since a massive $2 billion deal fell through last year, having sold Saber Interactive last month and laid off staffers at Lost Boys Interactive and Eidos Montreal in January.
