Borderlands GOTY News

You know Embracer Group? That company that’s rather gotten a bad rap for selling off studios and laying lots of people off over the past year or so? Well, according to Saber Interactive founder Matthew Karch, we’ve all got the publisher wrong. It’s, er, not evil.

That company, regardless of what you think of it, has been in the news a lot over the past few years, often because it’s either been buying stuff up, or more recently, selling stuff off and laying lots of people off as part of a restructuring the CEO Lars Wingefors now says is done. One of the most recent instances of this was Embracer’s selling of Saber to Beacon Interactive, with the current head of the latter now having offered his views on the almighty embrace.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Matthew Karch, a former member of Embracer’s leadership, said that he thinks people have been a bit too hard on the company and Wingefors, who he claims has been “very maligned”. Karch cites the CEO’s wealth and the fact Embracer’s share value has dropped a lot over the past year as the reasons he believes are behind this, adding: “I think it actually dropped more on a relative basis than almost anybody else primarily because [Embracer] seems to be a company these days that everyone likes to pick on.”

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Despite seemingly escaping the Embrace(r) of death through their sale to Take-Two at the end of last month, Gearbox Entertainment haven’t quite emerged unscathed. The studio has confirmed a number of layoffs shortly after the announcement of the sale, while clarifying that no positions related to the development of games were affected.

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Alongside announcing plans to buy Borderlands developers Gearbox from the collapsing wreckage of Embracer Group, Borderlands publishers Take-Two overnight casually mentioned that they are "in active development on next installment in Borderlands series". This isn't a formal announcement as much as a businessblast to hype shareholders, so it didn't have anything specific to say about what Gearbox are up to with their wildly popular and deeply unfunny looter shooter series. It had seemed curious that the much-delayed Borderlands movie was coming out five years after the latest main series game and with no new one in sight.

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Embracer Groups is divesting itself of Gearbox for 460 million dollars, according to an official Embracer Group press release. Gearbox - creator of Borderlands, Risk of Rain, and more video game IPs - will be aquired by Take Two and paid entirely with newly created Take Two shares.

When it comes to exactly what Embracer is selling, this includes Gearbox Software, Gearbox Montréal, Gearbox Studio Quebec and well as various IP like Borderlands, Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms and Duke Nukem. However, Embracer will be keeping its grip on Gearbox Publisher (soon to be renamed following the sale), Cryptic Studios, (Neverwinter Online and Star Trek Online), Lost Boys Interactive and Captured Dimensions. These developers will be folded into the Embracer company proper following the sale.

Back in 2021, Embracer group bought Gearbox for $1.3 billion. $363 million was upfront, split 50 / 50 between cash and Embracer shares. There was then rougly $1 billion up for grabs if Gearbox hit several targets within six years, though there is no mention on whether these targets were hit by Gearbox since being acquired. Randy Pitchford will remain CEO of Gearbox as the company jiggles under Take Two's umbrella.

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It seems like Jack Black mostly has video game movies on his mind outside of Kung Fu Panda these days, as even he's wondering where a Grand Theft Auto movie is.

No matter which video game movie you look at, Black appears to be in it. He's in the upcoming Minecraft movie, which he will be singing in, he was of course Bowser in last year's Super Mario Bros. Movie, and we'll be hearing him as Borderland's Claptrap in this year's adaptation of the beloved shooter series. Black recently spoke to Total Film (via GamesRadar) about his role as Claptrap, where interestingly enough, he also expressed his befuddlement at the lack of a Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption movie.

"I can't believe they haven't already started making a movie of any of the Rockstar Games - Grand Theft Auto, but especially Red Dead Redemption," Black said. "Those things are already like movies, you know? I guess that's the thing. Some video games are already halfway there to telling those kind of stories, and there are some movies that are like video games.

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