Randy Pitchford, the development chief at Gearbox, has firmly stated that the decision to advance the release date of *Borderlands 4* was not influenced by the launch schedules of other games, including *Marathon* or *Grand Theft Auto 6*. Originally set for a September 23 release, *Borderlands 4* will now hit the shelves on September 12, available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2. This change sparked rumors that the move was strategically planned to avoid competition, particularly from *GTA 6*, which is slated for a fall 2025 launch, and *Marathon*, a co-op focused extraction shooter from Bungie set to release on the same original date as *Borderlands 4*.
However, Pitchford took to Twitter to dispel these rumors, asserting that the early release of *Borderlands 4* was solely due to the team's confidence in the game and its development progress. "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," Pitchford tweeted. "Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date."
While it's uncommon for games to move their release dates forward—delays being more typical—Chris Dring, Editor-In-Chief and Co-Founder of The Game Business, found the decision puzzling if it indeed had no connection to other game releases. "They’ve gone out with a date," Dring noted. "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, Pitchford shared the surprising news about the new release date, emphasizing the positive development trajectory. "Everything is going great, actually," he said. "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, a subsidiary of Take-Two, which also owns Gearbox and the *Borderlands* IP. Take-Two is the parent company of *GTA* developer Rockstar, and at the executive level, decisions are made with an overarching view of all games in development. In a February interview with IGN, Take-Two's CEO Strauss Zelnick discussed the company's strategy to avoid cannibalizing their releases, aiming to respect the time consumers need to engage with each game before moving to the next. "No, I think we will plan the releases so as not to have that be a problem," Zelnick stated. "And what we found is when you're giving consumers hits, they tend to be interested in pursuing other hits."
Amidst these developments, speculation persists regarding potential delays for *GTA 6*, possibly into early winter or the first quarter of 2026. Zelnick responded cautiously to questions about the *GTA 6* release timeline, acknowledging the inherent risks in predicting launch dates but expressing confidence in their current plans. "So we feel really good about it," he concluded.
