Gearbox Publishing is exactly what it sounds like – the publishing arm of Gearbox, which we now know has been sold from Embracer Group to Take-Two for $460 million.
Unfortunately though, Gearbox Publishing wasn’t one of the assets included in the sale to Take-Two, and as such has incurred an unknown number of layoffs.
Shortly after news of the sale broke, employees under the Gearbox Publishing wing began to confirm the layoffs on their social media accounts.
“Got the news today that Gearbox Publishing is not included in the deal with Take 2. I’m laid off, along with the majority of our teams.” said Mallie Rust, now former customer relations manager at Gearbox Publishing.
Kelsey Stanley, now former legal assistant at Gearbox Publishing wrote “As happy as I am for the rest of my Gearbox Family for the new adventure with Take 2 and 2K, sadly I am one of the folks who has been effected. I’m grateful to my amazing team for the last 3 years, and I’ll be making the most of the time I have left during the transition.”
A report from Kotaku includes a statement from a Gearbox spokesperson, which confirms that the layoffs at Gearbox Publishing are part of the layoffs at Embracer Group. You can see the full statement, per Kotaku, below.
“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.”
As Stanley points out, there’s a lot of good to acknowledge in Gearbox being sold to Take-Two, but at the same time it’s disheartening to see more layoffs hit the industry.
Hopefully those impacted are able to land on their feet soon.
Source – [Kotaku, Kelsey Stanley, Mallie Rust on Twitter]