Gearbox Suffers Employee Layoffs Following Embracer Sale

Last week, Embracer Group announced it was selling Gearbox Software to Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two for $460 million. Hours after the sale, some Gearbox employees announced on social media that they had been let go from the company. Today, Gearbox has confirmed these departures.

In a statement to Eurogamer, Gearbox states that an unknown number of employees have been let go but that those affected are not tied to the development of upcoming games. Gearbox stated last week that it has six titles in the works, including a new Borderlands game. 

“As we strive towards our mission to entertain the world, we are grateful that our talent and capability are of interest to you and your audience,” says Gearbox as part of its statement. “The Embracer Group will continue to report on their restructuring program that impacted some parts of Gearbox today that are not tied to the development of Gearbox Software games.”

While Gearbox has not divulged the number of staff members let go, several employees took to social media soon after the announcement of the sale to announce their departures. Among them, Gearbox PR manager Jennifer Locke stated on X that she and “countless others” had been affected, as surfaced by Eurogamer.  

Embracer sold Gearbox (after acquiring it for 1.3 billion in 2021) as part of an ongoing effort to reduce costs after betting on a $2 billion deal with Saudi Arabia-backed Savvy Games Group that ultimately fell through last year. Embracer has spent the last few months either selling off its studios, shutting them down, or laying off employees as part of a massive restructuring process to recoup losses from this failed deal. 

[Source: Eurogamer]