Gearbox Software has confirmed it will be laying off staff.
Gearbox Software has confirmed it will be laying off staff
The studio, who develops the ‘Borderlands’ franchise, revealed it would be axing an undisclosed number of jobs just a day after its parent company - The Embracer Group - announced it had agreed to sell Gearbox to ‘Grand Theft Auto’ publisher Take-Two.
In a statement given to Eurogamer, the developer wrote: “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.
“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.
“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 developer was sold by Embracer in an effort to claw back funds once a deal worth billions fell through.
During an investors call, Lars Wingefors - the business’ CEO - stressed Embracer couldn’t consider acquiring any new studios at the moment, as it needed to focus on regaining financial stability.
He said: “Now we are in the late phases of the consideration into the future of the group, and that's our highest focus and priority – how we set up ourselves and structure ourselves, and utilise our assets we have within the group, and have them work together, and how we leverage them better working together, utilising different functions.
“I think that's our focus right now – to increase profitability and cashflow generation, by simply making better products and games.”