Embracer is on track to becoming the Tencent of Scandinavia, having already added THQ Nordic and Koch Media to its portfolio of games studios, and now expanding even further with the acquisition of Gearbox Studios.
Gearbox, the makers/publishers of Borderlands, Battleborn, Bulletstorm, Brothers in Arms, and many other games that don't begin with 'B', is run by CEO Randy Pitchford, who will be staying on as boss despite messy lawsuits that allege misuse of company funds and lewd behaviour.
Pitchford issued a very business buzzwordy statement, namechecking Lars Wingefors, the Embracer CEO:
"Lars’s vision of Embracer as an allied partner group committed to fueling and accelerating the ambitions of a series of decentralized, successful entrepreneurial companies while magnifying the collective value and advantages of diversification across the entire 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 30 years in this industry.
The feeling at Gearbox is that we are just getting started and this transaction is not merely a stimulant for the talent of our employee-owned company, but a propellent for the exciting future we have planned."
Lordy, that's a long first sentence. According to Kotaku, the purchase price was $363 million (£265.6m), half in cash and half in Embracer shares, plus another $1 billion (£731.8m) promised if Gearbox manages to meet "agreed financial and operational targets in the next six years".
2K, the publisher behind Gearbox's Borderlands series, put out a statement to clarify their relationship with Gearbox going forward:
"As the proud publisher of the Borderlands franchise, we are happy for our partners at Gearbox and this exciting new chapter for their organization. The merger does not change 2K’s relationship with Gearbox nor our role as the publisher for the Borderlands IP or any other projects we are currently working on with the studio.
We look forward to continuing our long-term partnership with this incredibly talented team and delivering many more exciting entertainment experiences to gaming fans around the world."
Are you starting to get worried about all these recent acquisitions? Is this positive news, or a death knell for Gearbox? Let us know in the comments.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 22
I think I heard this earlier but not from here. Still surprising.
I can't say I'm worried, I don't play many of their games anyway.
Embracer did not buy THQ Nordic, in fact they WERE THQ Nordic (or Nordic, before acquiring the THQ brand).
The strategy of Embracer seems clear to me: The want to be a big fish with many studios and IPs to be eaten by a bigger fish (Amazon, Facebook etc.) in future.
Embracer is on track to becoming the Tencent of Scandinavia
Wait....Embracer is under the control of the CCP?!
That's a pretty big acquisition by Embracer Group.
Wow.
I thought It was People Can Fly that developed Bulletstorm, not Gearbox.
oh god, not more bs streaming from the mouth of Pitchford...
@Mr-Fuggles777 you're right - they published the remastered version, but weren't involved with development. Made a wee correction!
Here's hoping Embracer fires Randy Pitchford, burns down Gearbox and pi$$es on the ashes. Of course after they either take control, sell and/or transfer over the IP's of Gearbox like Borderlands etc to other studios to handle. I don't play Borderlands but even I will respect the gamers that do.
I will NEVER forgive and forget the tragedy of Aliens: Colonial Marines. I understand there was a lot of "he said she said" going on between multiple parties however overwhelming evidence points at Gearbox having the biggest part in it all. I was a devoted follower for years during A:CM's development. I really bought into everything Randy Pitchford and everyone else at Gearbox would put out in the press about the development of the game. All their BS about how they're all passionate diehard fans of the franchise and this game will be the best love letter to everything Aliens we've been waiting for. I can go on for hours but in the end it makes this whole Cyberpunk situation look like small potatoes compared to the A:CM tragedy. There's others that go into more detail but here's the latest documentary about the A:CM debacle if you need a refresher:
https://youtu.be/mLSttGAFBY4
Oh great yet another studio has been gobbled up, in another few years we're gonna be down to to like five!
Not many people here seem to care. Me neither, really. They have Duke Nukem, but haven't released anything really new since they required the franchise.
Borderlands is not my cup of tea (and what else have they got?)
@Carck Exactly! Randy Pitchford was very vocal deflecting blame to virtually anyone except Gearbox. Sega and the other developers involved at least admitted to their faults (some at least) but Randy/Gearbox ran to the hills. As time went on the punk even had the balls to make a joke about A:CM's debacle during a panel interview at some random event. I was floored that he did that. Since childhood I've been a passionate fan of the Aliens franchise so I really did take it all to heart. On the flip side though it did prepare me to always be cautious in developer/publisher politics moving forward. The physical game itself is by far and wide not the only "game" being sold to us consumers. There's been plenty of examples before and especially after.
At least it was not EA!
@Ganner dude, I 100% agree with everything you said. I was so looking forward to Aliens on my Wii U, then that dude absolutely ruined it and pretty much destroyed the entire Aliens franchise.
Fingers crossed they dump Randy out of the company ASAP
You forgot to mention Randy's masterpiece, Duke Nukem Forever. Good luck to whoever gets to deal with that mess.
As long as they get the games out as physical no complaints fron me.
@Darknyht it didn't begin with B
Randy and the guys totally ruined Duke Nukem Forever. They had the chance to make it incredible, yet Randy only spat some BS about how much he likes the franchise and that it will be great. We all know how that ended, don"t we.
I hope Embrace will lay off Randy Pitchford once and for all.
BUY! BUY! BUY!
...then, when their first endeavor flops..
BYE! BYE! BYE!
(Hopefully they aren't EA)
@Dant3Sama Notice the pattern in my previous posts? He's a corporate sleezeball. I wouldn't put it past him to make sure to work out a "off the record" deal with Embracer that gives him some sort of protection while everyone else at Gearbox will get the pink slip. Except the few HE decides that get to stay on or get reassigned somewhere within Embracer.
"Lewd behavior" is an interesting way of saying Randy Pitchford had been caught being a pedophile multiple times.
This is good, because THQ Nordic is one of the most consumer friendly companies.
Embracer owns THQ Nordic, so i guess Gearbox will be below their flag.
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