The Gearbox Entertainment Co. in Frisco is getting acquired in a deal that could be worth up to $1.3 billion.
The video game company, whose titles include “Borderlands,” agreed to the transaction that will make it a wholly owned subsidiary of Sweden’s Embracer Group, the parent of developers and publishers of video games with global reach, according to a statement.
The Gearbox team has “developed and engaged a plan for immediate and long-term growth,” the statement said, including the expansion of talent, the creation of new Gearbox studios and expanded partnerships. The deal will enable the company to do more with its existing brands, create new ones and, potentially, undertake the merger and acquisition of other entities and properties.
Randy Pitchford, founder of Gearbox, will continue in his current role as head of Gearbox, the statement said.
“The feeling at Gearbox is that we are just getting started and this transaction is not merely a stimulant for the talent of our employee-owned company, but a propellent for the exciting future we have planned,” Pitchford said in a statement.
The company is being acquired after building up a lineup of content that’s helped it stand out in the industry over the years. In the past year, it’s benefitted amid ongoing market growth as more folks stay home and fill their hours with digital entertainment. The company’s “sales spiked, and the demand on our business increased dramatically” amid COVID-19, Pitchford said in an interview last year with the Dallas Business Journal.
The company has grown to 550 employees with its sites in North Texas and Quebec City. Embracer has a global presence through its now seven operative groups and ownership of an extensive catalogue with more than 5,500 employees, the statement said.