Updated Article
June 20, 2024
Gearbox Software has made several transitions as a studio these last few years. Initially, they were an independent development studio and 2K Games held the publishing rights. Together they released Borderlands (1), Borderlands 2, Battleborn, and Borderlands 3.
In 2021, Gearbox Studios became the 7th subsidiary at Embracer. The original article was written from this standpoint because while Gearbox had a parent company, 2K Games still owned the publishing rights to the Borderlands franchise. Together they released Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and New Tales From The Borderlands.
In 2024, Take-Two Interactive purchased Gearbox Software and placed the development studio under their 2K Games brand. Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick said in an investor call that the company now plans to double down on Borderlands.
2K Games will publish the next Borderlands game as they now own the IP and Publishing Rights to the Borderlands franchise.
Original Article
September 8, 2022
Gearbox Software merged with the Embracer group in early 2021. This raised questions about what this could mean for the next Borderlands game. Will 2K Games still be publishing Borderlands 4?
Randy Pitchford did state in a conference call that Gearbox Software is the owner of the Borderlands IP. From the way that he said it, it could mean that they can take the franchise wherever they like.
2K Games has always had the exclusive rights to publish the Borderlands games. However, Gearbox does have its own publishing division these days. That “Embracer Money” could be used to self-publish an AAA game.
The Merger with Embracer did not only bring in cash to supercharge the company it also added a lot of other resources that Gearbox could potentially pull from. Embracer has other subsidiaries with Publishing experience.
Official Statement
While those scenarios are likely possible Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed that 2K Games will continue publishing Gearbox’s future games.
This is what he had to say:
On behalf of our team, I would like to congratulate Gearbox Software on their recently announced merger with Embracer. This marks an exciting new chapter in the studio’s history. And we look forward to continuing our successful partnership with Gearbox, including the long-term publishing relationship for the Borderlands franchise going forward and some unannounced projects that will be revealed over time.
In terms of consolidation, you’ve seen a lot of deals out there, most recently Embracer is, is merging with Gearbox, a company near and dear to our heart and we’re grateful that we’ll still be in business with Gearbox and they’ll still be working with us on Borderlands and on other titles.
Strauss Zelnick
Conclusion
Randy Pitchford later mentioned that 2K games is good at what they do and bring Borderlands to the players.
In the meantime, we have seen that as Gearbox Software and 2K Games partner up for Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and New Tales From The Borderlands.
2K Games will continue to publish the upcoming Borderlands games. That said, Embracer did secure a good financial position from this collaboration. The same would apply to any of the other 8 AAA Games that Gearbox Software is developing.
