The video game industry continues to experience one of its most complicated periods in its history. Embracer Group, a company that for a couple of years dedicated itself to buying every studio and property possible, is in a complicated situation, since the failure of some projects caused a debt. Thus, The company has seen the need to sell Gearbox, the makers of Borderlands, to Take-Two, Rockstar's parent company.
Through a statement, it has been confirmed that Embracer Group has sold Gearbox to Take-Two for the modest amount of $460 million dollars, a transaction that is expected to be completed sometime in the first quarter of the next fiscal year, that is, between April and June 2024. They will use the money to significantly reduce their net debt, earnings obligations and capital spending. This is what Lars Wingefors, co-founder and CEO of Embracer, commented on the matter:
“Today's announcement marks the outcome of the final structured divestiture process and is an important step in transforming Embracer into the future with markedly lower net debt and improved free cash flow. Through the transaction, we reduce business risk and improve profitability as we transition to becoming a more agile and focused company. After evaluating several options for Gearbox, I am happy to have arrived at a solution that benefits all stakeholders. Randy [Pitchford] and the team have been excellent team members over the last few years and I would like to thank them all for that. “As one of the world’s largest game developers, I am confident that Gearbox will continue to innovate and thrive in its new home within Take-Two.”
For his part, this is what Randy Pitchford, founder and CEO of Gearbox Entertainment, commented on the matter:
“As an important long-term shareholder of the Embracer Group, I believe in the strategy of the Embracer Group in the future and I am completely convinced that this transaction is the best possible scenario and an obvious net positive deal for the Embracer Group, for Take-Two and , of course, for Gearbox Entertainment. My main interest is always Gearbox, especially our talent and our customers. “I want to personally assure fans of our games that this agreement will ensure that the experiences we have in development at Gearbox will be the best possible.”
However, in this transaction, not everything related will pass into the hands of Take-Two. Rockstar owners will get Gearbox Software (Frisco, Texas). Gearbox Montreal, Gearbox Studio Quebec, the Borderlands and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands propertiesas well as Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms and Duke Nukem.
For its part, Embracer Group will retain Gearbox Publishing San Francisco, which will be renamed, the publishing rights to the franchise. Remnant, Hyper Light Breaker, and another notable game that is not yet announced. Likewise, they have kept Cryptic Studios properties, including MMO titles like Neverwinter Online and Star Trek Online; as well as the Lost Boys Interactive and Captured Dimensions studios.
These properties will be restructured and integrated into other Embracer Group teams in the future. At the moment it is unknown if these changes will lead to layoffs., or whether Gearbox employees will keep their jobs. This information, as well as additional details, will likely be released once this purchase is concluded. On related topics, the existence of Borderlands 4. Likewise, here you can see the first trailer for the Borderlands movie.
Editor's Note:
This is an important move for the industry, and positions Take-Two as one of the most important companies in the medium. With their resources, it will be interesting to see how the development of Borderlands 4 and Tiny Tina's Wonderland 2 goes.
Via: Embracer Group
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