A new Borderlands game has been revealed as developers Gearbox has officially joined the Take-Two Interactive/2K family. Embracer Group has recently begun cutting costs through mass lay-offs and closing or selling several of its subsidiaries after rapidly acquiring many companies in recent years, a decision that backfired when an unannounced $2 billion partnership with a major gaming group fell through, interest rates increased over the past year, and its shares rapidly dropped by 40 percent.
A press release from Embracer Group confirmed the company has officially divested Gearbox Entertainment, selling the division to Take-Two Interactive for $460 million. A separate press release from Take-Two confirmed that Gearbox will continue to be led by CEO and founder Randy Pitchford, and has both a new Borderlands and Homeworld game in development.
There had already been reports that Gearbox was prioritizing work on Borderlands 4 despite major changes within the company, resulting in several other projects being shelved to allocate resources accordingly to focus on the extremely profitable looter-shooter franchise. Fortunately, it sounds like many of these titles will be returning under Take-Two’s management.
Take-Two’s press release confirmed that Gearbox currently has six key interactive entertainment projects in various stages of development, including five sequels, two of which are from the Borderlands and Homeworld franchises. The company teased that “at least one exciting new intellectual property” is being developed as well. Beyond these plans, Take-Two believes that there are incremental opportunities to invest in new projects and to expand Gearbox’s proven franchises, so players should expect plenty more Borderlands in the future, especially with the franchise’s upcoming movie likely to bring in some new audience members who hadn’t played the games before.
Gearbox and Take-Two have already worked together for nearly 20 years, as Take-Two already controlled the long-term publishing rights for the Borderlands games and the series’ RPG spin-off, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Considering how profitable this relationship has been for Take-Two over the years, this acquisition makes a lot of sense for the franchise going forward.
Sources: Embracer Group, Gearbox Entertainment/X, Take-Two Interactive