Take-Two Will Acquire Borderlands Dev Gearbox Entertainment

Take-Two has announced plans to acquire Gearbox Entertainment from the embattled Embracer Group, in a deal reported to be worth $460 million. The buyout makes logical sense, as Gearbox Entertainment will operate under the framework of 2K Games, which has long been the publisher of the popular Borderlands series. It’ll be led by founder Randy Pitchford.

Gearbox Entertainment says it currently has six projects in the works, including five sequels, two of which belong to the Borderlands and Homeworld franchise. The developer will retain intellectual property ownership of the two previously mentioned franchises, as well as Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms, and Duke Nukem.

To add complication, however, Embracer Group will continue to control Gearbox Publishing San Francisco, which will be renamed and will hold on to the publishing rights for titles like Hyper Light Drifter.

“Joining forces with Take-Two Interactive and 2K will help Gearbox ascend to our next level,” said a presumably minted Randy Pitchford. “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 ground-breaking, 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.”