Gearbox has taken on full ownership of indie rogue-like franchise Risk of Rain. Swedish tech giant and Gearbox owner, Embracer Group, also divulged details on several other internal shuffles. As of early 2021, Embracer Group is the parent company of Gearbox Entertainment, adding to its growing list of gaming entities, including both videogames and tabletop.The original Risk of Rain, released in 2013, was developed by two university students who eventually adopted the name Hopoo Games. Through a successful Kickstarter campaign, Hopoo attracted the attention of publisher Chucklefish. The game was a success, and a follow-up, Risk of Rain 2 entered Steam early access in 2019, getting a full release in 2020. This time however, publishing was handled by Gearbox. Following in its predecessor's footsteps, Risk of Rain 2 was a critical and commercial success. Now, ownership of the franchise has changed hands, becoming part of one of the biggest corporations in the business.Embracer Group has grown into a large and influential entity in the gaming industry. It owns close to a dozen operative groups - essentially smaller companies - and it appears to be reshuffling some of its assets. In its second quarter interim report, the company revealed that Gearbox Entertainment had acquired the full rights to the Risk of Rain IP from Hopoo Games. A Twitter post on the official Risk of Rain account also addressed the acquisition, sharing a message from Gearbox Entertainment.
The post reassures fans, referencing Gearbox's years of experience with the Risk of Rain IP and the passion the team has developed for it. The message also states the company's goal to ensure "a bright future for the genre-leading franchise," and hints at a forthcoming "very special project" that it's working on with Hopoo. If these teases are to be believed, there may be something new coming to the franchise. However, no further details were revealed, so it's much too soon to say for certain what could be coming next.
As part of the same report, Embracer Group also revealed that both Eidos Shanghai and Saints Row developer, Volition, are now controlled by Gearbox Entertainment. With Embracer acquiring a big chunk of Square Enix properties earlier this year, the addition of the Risk of Rain IP is just icing on the cake for the company. It also continues the year's ongoing trend of huge corporations making big purchases in the gaming world. Indie darlings like Risk of Rain are arguably where the heart of modern gaming resides, so it's in fan's - and the industry's - best interest to avoid scooping up all such IP's under a select few corporate umbrellas.
If Gearbox's intentions are to be trusted, however, the outlook for Risk of Rain looks good, as the company says it's hard at work on porting the game's Survivors of the Void DLC to consoles. And Gearbox's relationship with Hopoo Games appears to be intact, which is a good sign for the franchise's future.
Risk of Rain 2 is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: Embracer Group