Embracer Group Is Considering Selling Borderlands Dev Gearbox

Borderlands 3 character Claptrap poses next to a superimposed red "For Sale" sign.

Image: Jackyenjoyphotography / Gearbox Software / Kotaku (Getty Images)

Gearbox Software, the studio most well-known for the Borderlands franchise, is reportedly up for sale as parent company Embracer Group considers options to “shore up its finances,” according to a September 11 Reuters report.

Three people familiar with the matter told Reuters that various third parties have expressed interest in purchasing Gearbox from Embracer Group, with the Sweden-based holding company working with both investment bank firms Aream & Co and Goldman Sachs to explore a possible sale. Unnamed “international gaming groups” are among the likely buyers; however, Reuters’ anonymous sources said that a deal may not actually happen, though they didn’t provide a reason why.

This development comes almost two weeks after Embracer Group shut down Volition, a 30-year-old studio responsible for games like the open-world shooter Agents of Mayhem, the first-person shooter series Red Faction, and the open-world action game series Saints Row. The holding company made the decision to shutter Volition and lay off its developers because of a failed $2 billion investment deal with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which fell through in May. As a result of the funding arrangement falling through, Embracer Group announced in June a “restructuring program” meant to bolster its position in the industry. According to an August 31 statement from Volition on its sudden closure, the studio said that part of Embracer Group’s restructuring program involved evaluating operational and strategic goals, which prompted the holding company to shutter the studio.

Despite closing Volition and potentially selling off Gearbox Software, Embracer Group still owns quite a few companies. This includes publishers Deep Silver (Dead Island 2) and THQ Nordic (Biomutant), developer Coffee Stain Studios (Goat Simulator), developer-publisher Saber Interactive (Evil Dead: The Game), book publisher Dark Horse Comics, and game distributor Limited Run Games, among others. One of Embracer Group’s last acquisitions was in October 2022, when the company scooped up British anime distributor Anime Limited, though a sale price wasn’t listed.

Kotaku reached out to Embracer Group and Gearbox Software for comment.

‘All Of Sony Systems’ Allegedly Hacked By New Ransomware Group

There’s a new gang on the dark web that claims it’s breached all of Sony’s systems in a ransomware attack.

Read More: GTA 6 Leaker Hacked Rockstar With Just An Amazon Fire Stick In A Hotel Room

According to a September 25 article from Australian cybersecurity publication Cyber Security Connect, the PlayStation maker was cracked open by Ransomed.vc, a new outfit of hackers that’s only been operating since September—though the publication suggests the gang has connections to previous dark web forums and groups. Cyber Security Connect reports that the hack allegedly unearthed screenshots of Sony’s internal log-in page, an internal PowerPoint presentation outlining test bench details, several Java files, and a document tree of the entire leak housing 6,000 files.

“We have successfully [compromised] all of [Sony’s] systems,” Ransomed.vc proclaimed. “We won’t ransom them! We will sell the data. Due to Sony not wanting to pay. DATA IS FOR SALE. WE ARE SELLING IT.”

Within those 6,000 files are supposedly a bevy of documentation, including unknown “build log files,” a swath of Java resources, and HTML data. Many of the files are reportedly in Japanese. While Ransomed.vc hasn’t listed a price for the data, the group left contact details for Sony to get in touch and listed a “post date” of September 28, which might be when Ransomed.vc will just post it all.

Interestingly, Ransomed.vc seems to be a ransomware operator and a ransomware-as-a-service organization. That means that alongside these large-scale hacks of major corporations, Ransomed.vc (which VGC claims operates out of Russia and Ukraine) also reportedly works with the EU’s general data protection and regulation (GDPR) and other data privacy laws to report vulnerabilities in company systems and violations in the laws. According to Cyber Security Connect, the group is leveraging laws to reportedly bully victims into submission.

Sony told IGN on September 26 that it was looking into the claims. “We are currently investigating the situation, and we have no further comment at this time,” a statement issued to the publication read.

Read More: Reddit Hackers Demand $4.5 Million Ransom For Stolen Company Data

This isn’t the first time Sony has been hacked. Back in 2011, the company’s PlayStation Network suffered a massive breach that saw some 77 million registered accounts compromised and online features totally inoperable. It was so bad that Sony not only had to explain to Congress what happened but also began giving away games and money a few years later as compensation. Less than 6,000 files may not seem as egregious as that PSN hack, but a hack is a hack all the same, so here’s hoping Sony can batten down the hatches ASAP.

 

Overwatch 2 Reveals Music Event With K-pop Group LE SSERAFIM

An image shows Overwatch 2 and Le SSERAFIM's collaboration event poster.

Image: Blizzard

Overwatch 2 has been taking a page out of Fortnite’s book lately, increasingly making cross-cultural, in-game collaborations part of its repertoire. We’ve already seen crossovers with the popular Shonen Jump anime One Punch Man, WWE superstar John Cena, and a Blizzard in-house collaboration with Diablo IV. Now, the free-to-play hero shooter is setting its sights on a music collaboration with the popular K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM.

On October 18, Blizzard announced Overwatch 2’s first music collaboration, which will see a custom game mode and hero skins inspired by K-pop stars LE SSERAFIM appear in the shooter on November 1. LE SSERAFIM is the five-member girl group behind popular songs like “FEARLESS” and “ANTIFRAGILE.” The collab will see a LE SSERAFIM-inspired custom game mode and items like hero skins coming to Overwatch 2 on November 1. But Blizzard isn’t just sprinkling some LE SSERAFIM into OW2’s in-game store; the hero shooter will also be featured in the music video of LE SSERAFIM’s upcoming single “Perfect Night” which debuts on October 26 at 9 pm PDT. You can see one of the members (don’t ask me who) wearing D.Va’s headphones in their “Perfect Night” concept trailer video so we can at least take pride in knowing that they have good taste in heroes.

LE SSERAFIM / HYBE LABELS

Why would Overwatch 2 collaborate with LE SSERAFIM, you might ask? Well, when they formed in 2022—the same year as OW2—the girl group boldly proclaimed that they would stand at the pinnacle of their musical genre, and their name is an anagram for “I’m fearless,” so their spirit matches the game’s whole competitive drive. Plus, the group has 8.9 million listeners on Spotify and over 6.5 million followers on Instagram. The prospect of reaching all those people probably has something to do with why Blizzard would like to have the group for its first in-game music collaboration.

“We’re extremely excited to be working with LE SSERAFIM for our game’s first musical artist collaboration,” Overwatch general manager Walter Kong wrote in a press release. “Like the heroes of Overwatch, the LE SSERAFIM members are amazing as individuals, but unstoppable when they come together.”

LE SSERAFIM will also perform at BlizzCon on November 4, playing their new single, “Perfect Night,” and other tunes.

Ransomware Group Responsible For Capcom Hack In 2020 Arrested

A hacker gang that breached various high-profile companies like computer component manufacturer ADATA and video game publisher Capcom within the last several years has been arrested by an international police force, according to law enforcement agency Europol.

Read More: Capcom Says Covid-19 Made Company Vulnerable To Ransomware Attack

An October 20 report by the government agency states that the ransomware group known as Ragnar Locker was brought to an end after 11 different countries came together to investigate and prosecute the hackers. The group is probably best known for taking responsibility for the November 2020 Capcom cyberattack that exposed hundreds of thousands of pieces of employee information, including names, emails, and passport details. It claimed to have stolen over 1TB of data; the publisher would later detail exactly what data was compromised, which included the personal and corporate information of current and former employees, financial details and sales reports, and developer documents. In total, the confidential data of roughly 390,000 people may have been exposed on the dark web thanks to the cyberattack.

But Ragnar Locker may be no more, following an elaborate, multi-country sting operation that took place between October 16 and 20 spanning Czechia, Latvia, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and more, during which the “key target” of the bunch was arrested in Paris and brought in front of the Paris Judicial Court. His Czechia home was searched and the gang’s infrastructure was seized across the globe. Meanwhile, five other suspects connected to the ransomware gang Ragnar Locker were also interviewed in Spain and Latvia.

An international police force, composed of 11 countries including Japan and the U.S., also took down Ragnar Locker’s ransomware—the malicious malware it uploads to get access to devices—and the website it used to leak stolen data.

“Prevention and security are improving, however ransomware operators continue to innovate and find new victims,” Edvardas Šileris, head of Europol’s European cybercrime center, said in the report. “Europol will play its role in supporting EU Member States as they target these groups, and each case is helping us improve our modes of investigation and our understanding of these groups. I hope this round of arrests sends a strong message to ransomware operators who think they can continue their attacks without consequence.”

According to Europol’s findings, Ragnar Locker isn’t just the name of the now-defunct group. It’s also the name of the ransomware the gang developed for its cyberattacks, including more recent ones against the Portuguese national carrier and an Israeli hospital. It used this malware to attack devices running Microsoft Windows, exploiting services like Remote Desktop Protocol to gain access to devices and data. So, while speculative, breaking into Windows PCs may have been how Ragnar Locker slipped through Capcom’s defense systems.

Kotaku reached out to Capcom and Europol for comment.

Read More: Sony Suffers Two Hacks In Four Months, Thousands Of Employees’ Info Exposed

Capcom isn’t the only video game company to have been breached by hackers in the last few years. Earlier this fall, a new ransomware group known as Ransomed.vc claimed to have broken into “all of Sony systems.” Sony was hacked this past May as well, with a different cyberattacker group claiming to have accessed info on some 6,791 current and former employees.