Gearbox's highly anticipated first-person shooter, *Borderlands 4*, is set to hit the shelves 11 days earlier than originally planned. This exciting news was announced by development chief Randy Pitchford in a video that inadvertently went live ahead of schedule.
Originally slated for a September 23 release, *Borderlands 4* will now launch on September 12 across multiple platforms including PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
In the video, Pitchford shared his enthusiasm, stating, "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."
He further exclaimed, "What?! This never happens you guys! This never happens! We’re moving the launch date forward! You’re gonna get *Borderlands 4* earlier!"
Pitchford also mentioned that the eagerly awaited PlayStation State of Play, dedicated to *Borderlands 4*, is expected to be released soon.
The decision to advance the release date has sparked curiosity about its potential connection to the looming release of *Grand Theft Auto 6* (GTA 6), which is slated for a fall 2025 release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. The vague release window for GTA 6 could overshadow other titles, including *Borderlands 4*. Could this early release be a strategic move to give *Borderlands 4* more breathing room?
It's important to note that *Borderlands 4* is published by 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two, which also owns GTA developer Rockstar. At the executive level, including CEO Strauss Zelnick, there is a comprehensive understanding of all the company's games and a focus on ensuring their success. It's possible that recent developments regarding GTA 6's release date influenced the decision to move *Borderlands 4* forward.
With *Borderlands 4* set for a September 12 release, it seems likely that GTA 6 won't be released in the same month or in August. This leaves October, November, or December 2025 as potential release dates for GTA 6. However, there's a risk that Take-Two's major releases could end up competing with each other if launched too close together. This concern is also relevant to another 2K game, *Mafia: The Old Country*, scheduled for a summer 2025 release.
In an interview with Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick in February, we raised the question of whether releasing major games too close to each other could be detrimental. Zelnick reassured that Take-Two is carefully planning its releases to avoid such issues, emphasizing the company's commitment to respecting consumers' time and interest in playing hit games.
Zelnick 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 these discussions, there remains the possibility that GTA 6 might be delayed to early winter or into 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."
