Embracer sells Borderlands studio Gearbox for $460 million after acquiring it for $1.3 billion just 3 years ago

Embracer Group has sold Borderlands developer Gearbox for $460 million USD, after acquiring the developer for roughly $1.3 billion just over three years ago.

Earlier today, Embracer Group announced it had completed the sale of Borderlands studio Gearbox Entertainment for $460 million USD to Take-Two Interactive. The deal includes the sale of Gearbox's Austin, Texas and Quebec, Montreal studios, as well as the franchise rights to the Borderlands, Tiny Tina, Homeworld, Risk of Rain, and Duke Nukem series.

However, Embracer is retaining the publishing arm of Gearbox, which includes the rights to games such as Remnant 2, and the forthcoming Hyper Light Breaker. There's also "other unannounced games" retained via Gearbox's publishing arm for Embracer Group.

Embracer is also keeping the rights to Neverwinter Online and Star Trek Online, two MMO titles, as well as Lost Boys Interactive and Captured Dimensions. Embracer further adds that the two retained studios will be "welcomed and integrated into other parts of Embracer Group in the coming period."

This all comes after Embracer Group originally acquired Gearbox, including its development studios and publishing arm, for roughly $1.3 billion, including stocks and shares, back in February 2021. A report back in September 2023 claimed that Embracer Group was close to selling Gearbox, as the fallout of Embracer's failed $2 billion investment from outside investors. 

Embracer shuttered Saints Row developer Volition back in September, also due to the fallout of the failed investment. Over a period of six months last year, Embracer Group canceled 29 unannounced games and shuttered seven studios, one of which was an unannounced Deus Ex game which had been in development at Eidos Montreal for several years. 

Look over our new games 2024 guide for a look at all the games set to release over the next year and beyond.