Rumors Emerge About Embracer Group Possibly Selling Gearbox Entertainment

The talks of mergers seem to be on the tongue of everyone in the gaming industry, with every passing day, we hear about studios and companies being bought and sold like trading cards. It would only make sense with how common the topic is nowadays that rumors would spread about another studio possibly being sold and this time, it would seem to be none other than the Borderlands developer, Gearbox Entertainment.

For those of you who haven't been in the loop of the corporate side of gaming, Gearbox Entertainment was purchased by none other than the Embracer Group back in 2021, for roughly 1.3 billion dollars. The Embracer Group has been rapidly and rather aggressively trying to expand their gaming portfolio and seems to be trying to acquire as many studios as possible. From the developers who brought us Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics, to Deep Rock Galactic’s publisher, Coffee Stain, there seems to hardly be a studio that hasn't been "embraced". However, after some corporate reshuffling, rumors have begun to spread that the conglomerate would be selling off some of their recently acquired studios.

 

The exact reason for why Embracer Group would be seeking to sell their acquired studios isn't very clear, however, it may have something to do with their failed deal with Saudi Arabia-backed Savvy Gaming Group, which is reported to have caused huge job losses and multiple studios shutting down. As an attempt to cover its losses, one Reuters report claims that Embracer Group is looking into their subsidiary with Gearbox Entertainment and are even considering selling the studio outright. Apparently, there is already third-party interest in the sale of the developer who is the mastermind behind both the Borderlands game series and their most recent release, Remnant II.

The botched deal with the Savvy Gaming Group could also be the reason behind the corporate reshuffling that was reported to be happening back in June of this year. The reshuffling is meant to reduce the company's net debt from $903 million to $1.5 million by the end of the company's fiscal year. Sadly, this has translated to shutting down numerous studios and canceling projects left, right and center. Earlier this month, the group shut down Campfire Cabal which was an upcoming studio that was barely a year old. Alas, this is the corporate side of gaming and boy is it messy.

Daman Shelley (@UndeadandTired)
Editor, NoobFeed