Still in Embracer’s custody, Gearbox Publishing rebrands to Arc Games
Image via HeartMachine/Arc Games (formerly Gearbox Publishing).
With Gearbox Software now in Take-Two’s hands, its publishing arm has been renamed Arc Games.
A studio changing its name can also herald some kind of structural change. That’s not the case here: in its post, Arc stressed that everything else is business as usual.
Meaning, Arc will still publish previously agreed-upon games like Hyper Light Breaker, and continue to be involved in titles such as Star Trek Online and Gunfire Games’ Remnant series.
“It’s still the same publishing team since Remnant 1,” said series designer Ben Cureton. “This is a name change for our publisher, and it doesn’t affect [Gunfire].”
Arc Games and Perfect WorldThe Borderlands studio started publishing third-party games in 2016 with a remaster of Bulletstorm. In 2022, its efforts grew substantial after Embracer bought Perfect World Entertainment.
At time of writing, Arc’s new name hasn’t resulted in any layoffs. Its former parent company cut staff just hours after announcing its independence, and both studios were hit with reductions while owned by Embracer.
Last week, CEO Lars Wingefors said Embracer would end its near-yearlong restructuring efforts. Those plans saw layoffs and closures at a number of subsidiaries, along with the more recent sales of Gearbox and Saber Interactive.
In the immediate future, Wingefors said the plan is to release good games, with Arc presumably help leading the charge on that front.
About the Author(s)
Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com
A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don’t ask him about how much gum he’s had, because the answer will be more than he’s willing to admit.
