Take-Two acquires Borderlands studio Gearbox from Embracer for $460m

Embracer has entered an agreement to sell Gearbox Interactive to Take-Two for $460m.

When this transaction is complete, Take-Two will acquire the Borderlands and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands franchises, as well as Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms and Duke Nukem. Closing is expected to be finalised in Q1 FY 24/25, ending June 2024.

Following this, Embracer will still retain a number of assets such as Lost Boys, which Gearbox acquired in 2022.

The divested assets from this sale include:

• Gearbox Software (Frisco, Texas)
• Gearbox Montréal
• Gearbox Studio Quebec
• Borderlands and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands franchises, as well as Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms and Duke Nukem

“Joining forces with Take-Two Interactive/2K will help Gearbox ascend to our next level,” Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford said today. “Take-Two and 2K have demonstrated repeatedly their commitment to our engine of generating creativity, happiness and profit.

“We set the bar for interactive entertainment and achieved remarkable results with record-setting games when we worked together at arm’s length as partners [2K published previous Borderlands games]. I’m incredibly excited about what we can accomplish now that we’re fully aligned as one.”

In a quote shared with BusinessWire, 2K president David Ismailer confirmed Gearbox and 2K are actively working on the next instalment in the Borderlands series.

Meanwhile, Embracer’s retained assets from this deal include:

• Gearbox Publishing San Francisco (to be renamed prior to closing, formerly named Perfect World Entertainment), 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
• Captured Dimensions

“The retained companies will be welcomed and integrated into other parts of Embracer Group in the coming period,” Embracer said, stating “all companies are expected to contribute with a positive cash flow going forward”.

Embracer initially purchased Gearbox for $363m in 2021. News of today’s sale of the studio – which had long been expected – is part of Embracer’s “comprehensive restructuring programme”, which began last year after the collapse of a $2bn “major strategic partnership” in May.