Borderlands 4 is finally here and the reaction is… well, mixed. Players mainly seem irked by a slew of performance issues on PC, though stuff like 2K’s overbearing terms of service haven’t helped either. But it’s easy to get too negative: the patches will flow, Gearbox will improve the performance, and we’ll be left with another Borderlands game. Which means a billion guns, gorgeous looks, and some questionable humor. Kotaku has already noticed one joke, however, that seems like a straight-up dig at Embracer Group, former owners of Gearbox.
One early game location is called “Embracer’s Bluff”, a run-down place crammed with garbage and containing two rather pointed side quests. The first involves a murderous vending machine that kills a would-be customer, while the second is centred on a talking AI-powered toilet that everyone hates. The cherry on top is the ruler of Embracer’s Bluff, who seemingly lives in a hot tub surrounded by dildos.
This would be a clear enough dig at Embracer Group, but Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford basically said in the runup to release that Borderlands 4’s story was in some ways inspired by the company’s acquisition by the Embracer Group, and subsequent re-sale to Take-Two after everything went wrong for Embracer.
“There’s this cultural and emotional shift in me, personally, and at the studio,” said Pitchford. “What does it mean to trade some autonomy for organization? What does it feel like to move up and down the scale between autonomy and being organized or even being controlled?”
Whoa there Randy. The necessary context for all of this is that Embracer Group is a company that gorged itself on venture capital and swallowed endless established studios and franchises, including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Dead Island, and The Lord of the Rings among others. Then it all went wrong and Embracer embarked on an utterly brutal round of mass layoffs and studio closures.
Gearbox was part of this: it was acquired by Embracer Group in 2021 for $1.3 billion, before being sold back to 2K after three years for… drum roll please… $460 million. Now that’s how to waste a shitload of money.
Hence the name of this Borderlands 4 location. Embracer’s Bluff seems a straightforward reference to the fact that Embracer’s massive acquisition spree was based on bluffing, throwing vast sums of cash around and promising jam tomorrow: which all worked until a mysterious $2 billion deal fell through and the wheels came off. In the centre of Embracer’s Bluff sits a large pile of trash that people sift through. Say what you will about Borderlands: the humor is always on-the-nose.
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