Gearbox Studios, developers of games like Borderlands and also publishers of things like the new Homeworld titles, it was acquired by Embracer Group, the same Swedish company that owns THQ Nordic and Koch Media.
With the acquisition, Gearbox becomes the seventh share in the video game, along with other companies such as DECA and Saber Interactive.
The sale includes plans to expand Gearbox’s operations, add new studios and staff, ‘create new brands’ and explore more properties (as Homeworld) for sale.
Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford – who will remain as the company’s boss – has issued a statement, starting with a statement from Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors, which reads:
Lars’s vision of Embracer as an allied partner group committed to stimulating and accelerating the ambitions of a range of decentralized, successful businesses, while increasing the collective value and benefits of diversification throughout the group, is the most brilliant strategy and design for short, medium, and long-term success in this industry that I have ever encountered in my thirty years in this industry. The feeling at Gearbox is that we are just getting started and this transaction is not only a stimulant for the talent of our company, but a driving force for the exciting future we have planned.
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Gearbox is behind other hits like the Brothers in Arms series, and there is a Borderlands film is currently being made, which has undoubtedly contributed to Embracer’s interest. No word on whether sales were equally affected by Aliens: Colonial Marines and Duke Nukem Forever, well, or the fact that the gearbox Battleborn closed forever this week.
The initial purchase price was $ 363 million, half cash and half in Embracer shares, with another $ 1 billion must be paid ($ 360 million shares and the remainder cash) if Gearbox is able to achieve ‘agreed financial and operational targets in the next six years’.