Borderlands Dev Gearbox Software Could Be Leaving Embracer

01.03.2024 - 00:21 / gamerant.com / Jason Schreier / John DiCarlo

Gearbox Software, the studio behind the popular Borderlands series, could be leaving its parent company soon according to an established insider. Embracer Group acquired the Borderlands developer back in 2021.

Gearbox's potential departure from Embracer Group wouldn't be the company's only recent downsizing. Earlier today on February 29, news broke that Embracer Group is selling Saber Interactive to private investors for $500 million. Saber is the studio behind Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic's remake, but Saber reassured fans that it would continue working on the highly anticipated project. This move is part of a larger cost-cutting effort by Embracer Group, so it's certainly possible that more of its studios will be sold off in the near future.

Insider Jason Schreier, who was the first to report Saber's departure, responded to a fan who asked about Gearbox's fate regarding Embracer Group. Schreier's response simply read, «Stay tuned.» His answer seems to suggest that Gearbox could be moving on from Embracer Group soon, or at the very least is in talks of doing so. Schreier further detailed that another one of Embracer's subsidiaries, Volition, was also in talks of being sold off before negotiations fell through. It stands to reason that Gearbox could see a similar result, so fans shouldn't take the news as a certainty yet. Regardless, the potential change for Gearbox has led Borderlands fans to grow excited, as their favorite developer could be moving on to greener pastures. Embracer Group has developed a negative reputation among fans in recent years.

As for the studio's future, Gearbox's CEO recently teased its next project, calling it «the greatest thing we've ever done.» It's not yet confirmed whether this is a Borderlands game, although it's certainly possible. It's been almost two years since the last Borderlands game, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, was released, so it does seem likely that the series' next project is in the works. The studio is probably keen to take advantage of the momentum generated by the Borderlands movie, which releases later this year.

The first trailer for the Borderlands movie released last week and showcased its impressive visual effects and action sequences. However, some Borderlands fans weren't happy with the trailer, who took issue with its portrayal of Tiny Tina.

As part of the movie's promotional campaign, Gearbox released a Borderlands promo code that can be used to unlock five golden keys in most Borderlands games. The promo code is still usable, but Gearbox has not specified for how long, so interested users should probably use it sooner rather than later.

Borderlands is an action RPG first-person shooter created by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games. The