Borderlands studio Gearbox reportedly to be sold by owners Embracer

It’s looking increasingly likely that Gearbox Entertainment is going to be sold by Embracer. In a town hall with staff earlier this week, CEO and co-founder Randy Pitchford reportedly told staff that a decision had been made regarding the studio’s future, with more details to be shared in March.

Embracer bought Gearbox for $1.3 billion (around £1.02 billion) in 2021, but it was reported that they were looking to sell last year as part of ongoing layoffs, closures and divestments.

“I’m delighted that what we might be up to is interesting enough to people that you want to make a story about us for your readers,” wrote Randy “Medieval Times” Pitchford in a statement to Kotaku, who first reported the town hall. “I’m honored and humbled that our company is a topic of rumor, speculation, and discussion. As always, we will be thrilled to share whenever we have projects to announce or news to share as we work hard towards our mission to entertain the world.”

Embracer did not respond to Kotaku’s request for comment.

It was reported yesterday that another Embracer division, Saber Interactive, could be sold to private investors in the near future. Saber are currently working on the Knights Of The Old Republic remake and Space Marine 2, among other games.

Embracer spent the best part of the past five years hoovering up game studios with investor cash, including publishing giants like THQ Nordic and Koch Media, as well as individual studios including Coffee Stain, 4A, Flying Wild Hog, Piranha Bytes, and many more. Since then they have switched to destroying their hastily assembled kingdom, closing Volition, Free Radical and others, and laying off over 1000 staff across dozens of studios, cancelling projects, such as a new Deus Ex game in the process.