Gearbox Entertainment, the developer of the Borderlands series, confirmed April 2 that an unknown amount of employees had been laid off after the studio was sold by Embracer Group to Take-Two Interactive for $460 million on March 28.
Employees were laid off only hours after the sale was finalized, with many former staff members taking to social media to announce that they had been let go. Now, Gearbox has confirmed the layoffs in statement to Eurogamer.
“Thank you for your thoughts and care for The Gearbox Entertainment Company as some reports of internal communication and actions are starting to flow through public channels,” the statement said.
The statement stressed that the layoffs did not impact games that are currently in development, which includes the upcoming Borderlands 4.
“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,” it said. “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.”
“Thank you for granting us the space to remain focused on our people and in our handling of the situation with compassion and manage the process, balancing between our present duty and a commitment to our future,” the statement concluded.
This comes after a series of layoffs within the Embracer Group over the past few months as they enacted their restructuring plan after a $2 billion Saudi Arabia-backed deal fell through. Since September 2023, Embracer has shut down Saint’s Row developer Volition Games and Free Radical Design, laid off 900 of their own staff and 97 employees from Eidos Montreal, and sold Saber Interactive, 4A Games, and Zen Studios.
It appears that many of the layoffs came from divisions dedicated to interacting with the public, with PR staff members and the former director of online engagement confirming that they had been laid off. The full number of employees affected is still unclear.