US based game company Gearbox Entertainment is reportedly up for sale. Gearbox Entertainment is the developer and the name behind the popular game Borderlands.
The parent company Embracer Group is reportedly going through some serious and significant restructuring due to which a lot of its subsidiaries are being targeted. Last month the company took a huge step of shutting down 30-year-old Volition Games on short notice citing reasons of cost cutting. After the tragic fate of Volition, Embracer Group has now put Borderlands Developers, Gearbox, on sale.
As per a Reuters report, Embracer Group is currently working with Goldman Sachs and Aream & Co. to weigh options that could include selling Gearbox Entertainment. Reportedly, Embracer Games has received interest from a number of third parties for Gearbox entertainment.
Gearbox, the U.S. game company behind the Borderlands series, is reportedly up for sale. https://t.co/NHd8R3AgwF pic.twitter.com/jtL8GN17zN
— IGN (@IGN) September 11, 2023
Not many details are known yet about the sale of Gearbox and neither Embracer nor Gearbox have issued any official statement about the same. The news about Gearbox Entertainment’s sale comes a week after reports suggesting layoffs at Gearbox’s publishing wing. Although the exact figures of the job cuts are still unclear, it seems that Gearbox Publishing had sensed the probable sale and hence had started preparing for this move about two months ago.
Over the past few years, Embracer Group has been on an acquisition spree. Their list of acquisitions includes the Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics among many others. In fact, Gearbox Entertainment is also one of its acquisitions. Embracer Group acquired Gearbox Entertainment in February 2021 for a deal that came close to $1.4 Billion.
Will Microsoft acquire Gearbox Entertainment?
With the news of such a notable game developer and publisher like Gearbox up for sale, it won’t be surprising to see the industry giants hawking to acquire it. This could possibly include Microsoft and there are several reasons why.
As soon as the news was out, the first name to come to the minds of a lot of people was Microsoft. One of the comments on the X (formerly Twitter) thread read, “Microsoft has entered the chat.” Others made sure to tag the official handles of Xbox and Microsoft hinting them to buy Gearbox.
Microsoft has entered the chat
— Team Respawn (@TeamRespawnTV) September 11, 2023
Hey @Xbox & @Microsoft
— Washed Gamer (@MitchellRossman) September 11, 2023
For the unknown, it has reportedly been revealed that prior to Embracer Group’s acquisition of Gearbox Software back in 2021, Microsoft was considering acquiring the Gearbox, however, they backed out for reasons unknown. But Microsoft’s interest in Gearbox dates way before 2021.
The multinational giant had initially expressed its consideration in the studio when the company was allegedly looking for a developer for Halo 4, years ago. Consequently, it formed 343 Industries which took charge of Halo 4. Besides, in an interview, it was also reported that Microsoft continues to buy well-established studios because it’s easier than building them from scratch.
The reports are backed by the fact that Microsoft has regularly made headlines from time to time for some kind of game studio acquisitions. The most recent one was the acquisition of well-known publisher Activision. In early 2022 Microsoft announced its intention to purchase Activision Blizzard for $68.7 Billion.
However, there has been a lot of legal trouble and back and forth due to which the deal has not yet closed, but Microsoft is in no mood to back off and the deal would soon find a closure.
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