In a
press release, Embracer shared that it is divesting Gearbox Software, Gearbox Montreal, Gearbox Studio Quebec, and the franchises Borderlands, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms, and Duke Nukem. Embracer will retain rights to Gearbox Publishing San Francisco (formerly Perfect World Entertainment, and which it plans to rename), the publishing rights to Remnant, Hyper Light Breaker, and other unannounced games, Cryptic Studios, Lost Boys Interactive, and Captured Dimensions. All of its retained assets will be integrated into other parts of Embracer Group. The sale is expected to close by the end of June.
Gearbox will join Take-Two's 2K division and will continue to be led by CEO and founder Randy Pitchford. Currently, Gearbox has both a new Borderlands and a new Homeworld game in development, as well as "at least one exciting new intellectual property," per a separate
press release.
Notably, the full purchase price of $460 million will be paid to Embracer Group in Take-Two shares rather than cash. For comparison, Embracer originally purchased Gearbox for $363 million, half in cash and half in newly-issued Embracer Group shares, with an additional consideration of $1.015 billion (also partially in shares) to be paid out if Gearbox hit certain targets within six years.
