What happened to the creators of Borderlands and their signing with the publisher of GTA 6

The Embracer Group has been overcome by gluttony. Since the resurrection of THQ Nordic, the giant has been scouring the market, buying studios and companies left and right. For a while, it seemed that they would buy everything, but the crisis in the video game industry has hit hard. The head of the conglomerate, Lars Wingefors, made it clear that the priority was for shareholders to receive their coveted dividends. And in all this maelstrom of layoffs and cutbacks, Saber Interactive has become independent and Gearbox Entertainment is one step away from leaving Embracer to throw itself into the loving arms of Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of GTA VI, as confirmed by a press release.

Embracer Group acquired Gearbox Entertainment just three years ago, but the most remarkable thing about the deal was the amount of money they invested in the acquisition, no more and no less than about $1.3 billion... with a catch, because they paid $363 million, half in cash and half in stock. The other $1.015 billion - also in stock - was contingent on Gearbox meeting certain targets within six years of the purchase. In this case, the transaction is valued at $460 million, to be paid primarily in new Take-Two stock.

According to the press release, Gearbox is working on a new Borderlands as well as a new game in the Homeworld series. On the other hand, they have “at least one exciting new intellectual property” in their plans. Randy Pitchford, CEO of the company, will remain in his position when the deal is completed. This is expected to happen in June.

Gearbox to become part of 2K Games

“Our acquisition of Gearbox is an exciting moment for Take-Two and will strengthen our industry-leading creative talent and portfolio of owned intellectual property, including the iconic Borderlands franchise,” said Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive. The company will be integrated into the 2K Games label, which has published all Borderlands games to date.

Gearbox Software (Frisco, Texas), Gearbox Montréal, and Gearbox Studio Quebec will be owned by Take-Two (and the Borderlands, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Homeworld, Brother in Arms and Duke Nukem franchises). Gearbox Publishing will be rebranded prior to closure and Cryptic Studios, Lost Boys Interactive, and Captured Dimensions will remain within Embracer.

The possible sale of Gearbox was leaked a few weeks ago. “I’m delighted that what we might be up to is interesting enough to people that you want to make a story about us for your readers. I’m honored and humbled that our company is a topic of rumor, speculation, and discussion. As always, we will be thrilled to share whenever we have projects to announce or news to share as we work hard towards our mission to entertain the world,” Randy Pitchford told Kotaku at the time.

The industry has seen a steady stream of moves over the past few years. Microsoft, PlayStation, Riot Games, and Embracer Group have invested in major studios, but there have also been closures and an unprecedented wave of layoffs. Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox division, has explained the reasons why the Redmond-based company has laid off 1,900 employees. According to the executive, it is because the industry has been stagnant for two years, so they need to return to the path of growth. And all this after completing a titanic operation, the purchase of Activision Blizzard, which was carried out for more than 68,000 million dollars.

PlayStation, for its part, announced its decision to lay off more than 900 employees.