Embracer Group Purchases Borderlands Developer Gearbox in $1.3B Deal

The Embracer Group has purchased Gearbox Entertainment in a deal worth $1.3 billion.

The deal will initially see Gearbox receive $363 million in shares and cash from Embracer, with the company then paying out up to a further $1.15 billion depending on Gearbox meeting a set of goals agreed between the two organizations.

The Embracer Group currently owns a collection of gaming companies. These include THQ Nordic, Deep Silver, Saber Interactive, and Koch Media, with Gearbox being the seventh development group to fall under the Embracer umbrella. The parent company also recently acquired Aspyr Media, a studio that has specialized mainly in porting games to new platforms.

According to a press release, the acquisition will give Gearbox the opportunity to expand and develop more games in the future. Randy Pitchford will stay on as CEO and there will be no other changes in leadership.

Pitchford also confirmed the deal will not change the relationship with 2K Games in respect to the Borderlands franchise. In a tweet, Pitchford announced that Gearbox owns the IP behind the shooter-looter series but went on to say that the publisher does have some rights to exploit the IP due to previous arrangements.

Randy Pitchford $EMBRAC on Borderlands ownership:

"We have a relationship with 2K where we have agreed on certain rights for exploitation of the IP."

"The ownership of the IP is clear. The IP is our IP."
— EmbracerInvestor (@EmbracerInvest) February 3, 2021

Confirming this in a statement released to VG247, 2K Games said that “the merger does not change 2K’s relationship with Gearbox nor our role as the publisher for the Borderlands IP or any other projects we are currently working on with the studio.”

The company went on to say: “As the proud publisher of the Borderlands franchise, we are happy for our partners at Gearbox and this exciting new chapter for their organization.”

From this information, it looks as if Gearbox and 2K Games will continue to work with each other in regards to Borderlands, at least in the short term. But publishing duties for other projects could switch to one of Embracer’s other subsidiaries.