Randy Pitchford, the development chief at Gearbox, has firmly stated that the decision to release *Borderlands 4* earlier than originally planned was not influenced by the release dates of other games. This statement comes in the wake of speculation that the move might have been a strategic response to upcoming titles like *Marathon* or *Grand Theft Auto 6*.
Originally set for a September 23 release, *Borderlands 4*—a cooperative-focused first-person shooter—will now hit the shelves on September 12. This change will see the game available across PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
The 11-day shift in release date sparked rumors that *GTA 6*—slated for a fall 2025 launch—might have prompted Take-Two, the parent company of both Gearbox and *GTA* developer Rockstar, to adjust its release schedule to give *Borderlands 4* a better market window. There were also whispers that the move could be due to a potential clash with Bungie’s *Marathon*, another cooperative-focused extraction shooter set to release on the same original date of September 23, 2025. *Borderlands 4* is set to be featured in its own PlayStation State of Play broadcast on April 30 at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 11pm CEST.
However, Pitchford took to Twitter to dispel these rumors, asserting that the decision to bring *Borderlands 4* forward was solely based on "confidence" and the "development trajectory." He stated, "Borderlands 4 shipping early is 100% the result of confidence in the game and development trajectory backed by actual tasks and bug find/fix rates. Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date."
While it's not uncommon for game release dates to be pushed forward, such moves are less frequent than delays. Chris Dring, Editor-In-Chief and Co-Founder of The Game Business, expressed skepticism about Pitchford's claims, tweeting, "They’ve gone out with a date. It’s on calendars, market materials, social assets... Put ‘Borderlands 4 release date’ into Google and it still says Sep 23. There’s surely got to be a good commercial reason to shift a date."
In a video message released early yesterday, Pitchford shared the news of the new release date, saying, "Everything is going great, actually. In fact, everything is going kind of the best-case scenario. The game is awesome, the team is cooking, and so the launch date for Borderlands 4 is changing. We’re moving it forward. The launch date is now September 12. What?! This never happens you guys! This never happens! We’re moving the launch date forward! You’re gonna get Borderlands 4 earlier!”
It's important to note that *Borderlands 4* is published by 2K Games, which, along with Gearbox and the *Borderlands* IP, is owned by Take-Two. Take-Two is also the parent company of *GTA* developer Rockstar. At the executive level, including CEO Strauss Zelnick, there is likely a comprehensive understanding of all the company's games and their development stages, with a focus on ensuring each game has the best chance of success.
In an interview with IGN in February, Zelnick discussed Take-Two's strategy for game releases, emphasizing the avoidance of cannibalization. He stated, "No, I think we will plan the releases so as not to have that be a problem. And what we found is when you're giving consumers hits, they tend to be interested in pursuing other hits. In other words, I've said this many times, even when the hits aren't ours, they're a good thing for the industry. In this case, we hope that the hits will largely be ours. So we feel really good about it and I think that we will time our releases so as to respect the consumer's need to spend a lot of time playing these hit games before they go on to the next."
Amidst this speculation, there's also the possibility that *GTA 6* might face delays, potentially shifting into early winter or the first quarter of 2026. When asked about the confidence in hitting the fall 2025 release for *GTA 6*, Zelnick responded cautiously, "Look, there's always a risk of slippage and I think as soon as you say words like absolutely, you jinx things. So we feel really good about it."
