Borderlands 2 Developer Gearbox Buys Homeworld Franchise Rights

Gearbox, the studio that made the Borderland Games as well as Aliens: Colonial Marines have acquired the rights to the Homeworld Franchise from the now bankrupt THQ. The real time strategy franchise from Relic was put on sale for THQ's bankruptcy auction for their remaining IP's, which also included Darksiders and Red Faction. It is unknown how much the franchise was auctioned off for.

Gearbox's chief creative officer, Brian Martel, reportedly spearheaded the aquisition, according to Gearbox's press statement.

"Brian intends as first priority to direct Gearbox's interest to preserve and assemble the purest form of the original acclaimed and beloved games, Homeworld and Homeworld 2, with the intent of making them accessible on today's leading digital platforms."

Last week a group of fans and TeamPixel attempted to raise enough money through crowdfunding campaigns to secure the rights to the series. However, despite raising $50,000, the operation was unsuccessful, as Gearbox outbid their efforts during the auction on April 15. Backers from that campaign will receive a refund for their efforts. TeamPixel now plans to make a brand-new space RTS IP, now that they have failed to purchase the rights to Homeworld.

It is unknown what Gearbox plans to do with the franchise in the future. They seem intent of possibly remaking or re releasing the games, but do not mention any plans to make a third game for the series. The original Homeworld was released in 1999, with the sequel released in 2003. The series was praised at the time for its graphics, story, and large space battles. Now that Gearbox has the rights to the series, hopefully they can repeat the success they have had with the Borderlands series, and avoid a disaster like the Duke Nukem and Aliens: Colonial Marines.