With Gearbox Entertainment separating from Embracer Group, it was only a matter of time until another publisher came knocking. And it seems that time was very short-lived. Take-Two Interactive has formally announced they have acquired Gearbox Entertainment for $460 million. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of Take-Two’s Fiscal Year 2025.
Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two, made the following statements on the acquisition:
Our acquisition of Gearbox is an exciting moment for Take-Two and will strengthen our industry-leading creative talent and portfolio of owned intellectual property, including the iconic Borderlands franchise. This combination enhances the financial profile of our existing projects with Gearbox and unlocks the opportunity for us to drive increased long-term growth by leveraging the full resources of Take-Two across all of Gearbox’s exciting initiatives.
Meanwhile, Randy Pitchford, Founder and CEO of Gearbox, said the following:
Joining forces with Take-Two Interactive and 2K will help Gearbox ascend to our next level. Take-Two and 2K have demonstrated repeatedly their commitment to our engine of generating creativity, happiness, and profit. We set the bar for interactive entertainment and achieved remarkable results with groundbreaking, record-setting games when we worked together at arm’s length as partners. I’m incredibly excited about what we can accomplish now that we’re fully aligned as one.
As reported by Business Wire: Take-Two expects the transaction to deepen its successful relationship with Gearbox Entertainment and to provide increased financial benefits through a fully-integrated operational structure. Take-Two will acquire Gearbox’s extensive portfolio of intellectual property, including full ownership of the critically and commercially acclaimed Borderlands and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands franchises1, as well as Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms, Duke Nukem, and Gearbox’s future pipeline. 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, and at least one exciting new intellectual property. Beyond these plans, Take-Two believes that there are incremental opportunities to invest in new projects and to expand Gearbox’s proven franchises.
Gearbox will operate as a studio within 2K and will be led by Founder and CEO, Randy Pitchford, and his management team. The acquisition adds a robust and proven development team to 2K’s incredibly talented developer community, including personnel that have worked together on multiple critically and commercially successful games. Gearbox operates studios in Frisco, Texas; Montreal, Canada; and Quebec City, Canada
