I recently noticed on Twitter a post from one of my favorite gaming companies, Gunfire Games. Only the post mentioned that the company had changed its name to Arc Games, which had me scratching my head, as Arc Games had already existed for a decade or more in another form.
After a bit of reading and sitting down due to the heart attack I gave myself, I realized that the publisher of Gunfire Games was the one who had changed its name. So, officially Gearbox Publishing is now Arc Games, and there’s a bit of history here.
What’s going on?
When Embracer Group purchased Gearbox Software in 2021, it also purchased another company you may have heard of, Perfect World. Perfect World was the company’s name that published Gunfire Games, Remnant: From the Ashes, and other titles. When that company was acquired, its name was changed to Gearbox Publishing.
However, when Gearbox Software was sold to Take-Two Interactive, this did not include Gearbox Publishing, and the consequence was that most of its employees were laid off. This left me wondering what exactly happened to Gearbox Publishing. However, the CEO, Lars Wingefors of Embracer Group, recently mentioned that its near-year-long restructuring efforts were ending. This would mean Embracer is holding onto Gearbox Publishing and renaming it to Arc Games.
Interestingly, when Perfect World was its publisher, it had a PC storefront called Arc Games. This name and its domain name aren’t new, and you can see for yourself by checking out Wayback Machine. I remember Arc Games as I played a lot of Torchlight 2. So, why Gearbox Publishing is now named Arc Games is beyond me.
What I am happy to see is that Gunfire Games is safe, for now, as I enjoy the Remnant games, and now that Embracer Group looks to be done with closing doors and firing employees finally, it can get to having the publishers it owns, treating some amazing games.
We’ll keep tabs on this to see what happens during the upcoming Triple-i Inactive showcase, which will feature a new trailer for the upcoming title and follow-up to Hyper Light Drifter, Hyper Light Breaker. It will occur on April 10 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET, and you’ll be able to watch this showcase on YouTube, Twitch, bilibili, IGN, and Steam.
