It’s official, after rumors started last September, Embracer has finally sold Gearbox. For less than half the price they bought it. With 460 million dollars spent, Take-Two therefore acquired Gearbox, as well as the rights to a large part of its catalog. This acquisition has not yet been finalized, and should take place during the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year, i.e. in June maximum.
With this, Embracer drastically reduces its debt to almost disappear. However, if the sale price is not up to what they spent to acquire Gearbox in 2021, the Swedish group retains some advantages. Thus, they lose Gearbox Software, Gearbox Montreal, Gearbox Studio Quebec, as well as the rights to the licenses Borderlands, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Homeworld, Risk of Rain,
Brothers in Arms And Duke Nukem.
But they retain Gearbox Publishing San Francisco, with publishing rights for the series Remnant, Hyper Light Breaker and other titles. Cryptic Studios and its MMOs
Neverwinter Online And Star Trek Online also remain. Just like Lost Boys Interactive and Captured Dimensions. It is therefore not a dead loss for Embracer, which consoles itself with studios specializing in various fields.
What’s next for Take-Two and Gearbox
When announcing this acquisition, Take-Two revealed that it was already working with Gearbox. This would concern the license Borderlands, whose next title is reportedly in development. But there is also mention of a new intellectual property which has not yet been revealed. By purchasing this studio, Take-Two wishes to strengthen its cohesion with its members. This is not the first time that the two have worked together, and this should make their exchanges easier.
“This acquisition enhances the financial profile of our existing projects with Gearbox and provides us with the opportunity to drive increased long-term growth by leveraging all of Take-Two’s resources across all of Gearbox’s exciting initiatives.” »
Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two