Embracer Acquires Gearbox in $1.3B Deal

Borderlands developer Gearbox has today announced it will be joining Embracer Group as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Swedish holding company formerly known as THQ Nordic AB. The deal, reportedly worth up to US$1.3B, will see Gearbox and its 550 staff in Frisco, Texas and Quebec City become Embracer Group’s seventh official operating group. Embracer’s existing operating groups include THQ Nordic, Saber Interactive, Koch Media, DECA Games, Amplifier Game Invest, and Coffee Stain Holding. “Lars [Wingefors]’s vision of Embracer as an allied partner group committed to fuelling 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,” said Gearbox co-founder and CEO Randy Pitchford in a statement accompanying the announcement. “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 propellant for the exciting future we have planned.” Pitchford will continue as Gearbox boss following the merger. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/2YEharJ] Embracer has also acquired Austin, Texas-based developer and publisher Aspyr. Aspyr and its 140 staff will operate as a stand-alone entity under Saber Interactive. Gearbox and Aspyr join a long list of acquisitions for Embracer, which spent 2020 scooping up an exhaustive list of developers from all over the world (including 13 companies announced on a single day). Embracer now has access to more than 200 game franchises and more than 5,500 employees.

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Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter sporadically @MrLukeReilly.