A new rumor has emerged that Embracer is close to selling Gearbox Software.
As reported by Kotaku, Randy Pitchford recently told Gearbox employees in a townhall meeting that the company had already decided their future, and that they would be making an announcement next month. Kotaku’s sources claim that the announcement will be a sale, for Gearbox to leave Embracer.
Embracer originally bought Gearbox in 2021 for $ 1.3 billion, as the most high profile studio in their years long acquisition spree. That came shortly after the release of Borderlands 3, and within that time, the company released Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, New Tales From The Borderlands, and published several games under them, including Remnant II, Homeworld 3, and Risk of Rain 2: Seekers of the Storm.
Gearbox was also incorporated into Embracer’s corporate structure, who split them into four divisions. Gearbox Software is the division that still makes the games, Gearbox Studios handles media productions like the upcoming Borderlands movie, Gearbox Properties is dedicated to managing their IPs, and Gearbox Publishing is the dedicated publisher arm.
Under Embracer, Gearbox also added several other studios and publishers into their fold, managed by a fifth division called the Gearbox Entertainment Company. This included Cryptic Studios, and Perfect World, which was rebranded to Gearbox Publishing San Francisco.
Before the acquisition, however, Gearbox was a huge company as it is. They have four studios dedicated to making video games, in Texas, Montreal, Quebec, and Shanghai. They were also already publishing and producing games with other studios, like Homeworld 3 with Blackbird Interactive.
Kotaku’s sources claims that Gearbox had been privately under turmoil, while other studios announced layoffs and closures. While the company initially claimed they would avoid layoffs as much as possible, they would eventually do some targeted layoffs. This seems to have not been at the same scale as other companies as they would have had to disclose them.
What seems to be unclear is the status of the studios that fell under Gearbox after they were acquired by Embracer. We know that Embracer closed down Volition, and they transferred Cryptic Studios to DECA Games. Lost Boys, which suffered layoffs, and Gearbox San Francisco FKA Perfect World, are still with the company.
While Kotaku was reporting on these studios as part of Gearbox, as Cryptic’s transfer to DECA demonstrates, we don’t know the terms under which these studios were assigned to Gearbox. They may stay with Embracer after Gearbox’s rumored sale. It’s also possible that this is one of those issues that is holding up their potential sale.
Whatever happens, gamers are likely hopeful that Gearbox’s fate won’t lead to widespread layoffs, or for that matter, the company going under. We’re all knocking on wood that Randy Pitchford and company is able to get everything together.
