Randy Pitchford, the development chief at Gearbox, has firmly stated that the decision to release *Borderlands 4* earlier than planned was not influenced by the release dates of other games, such as *Marathon* or *Grand Theft Auto 6*. The eagerly anticipated co-op focused FPS, *Borderlands 4*, originally slated for a September 23 release, will now hit the shelves on September 12. This adjustment applies across all platforms including PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
The 11-day shift in release date sparked speculation that it might be a strategic move to avoid competition with *Grand Theft Auto 6*, which is set to launch in the fall of 2025. Since both games are published by Take-Two, some believed the company might be reshuffling release dates to give *Borderlands 4* more market space. Additionally, there was talk of a potential clash with Bungie’s *Marathon*, another co-op focused extraction shooter set for the same original release date of September 23, 2025. *Borderlands 4* will also feature in its own PlayStation State of Play broadcast on April 30 at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 11pm CEST.
However, Pitchford took to Twitter to clarify that the decision to move the release date forward was solely based on "confidence" and the "development trajectory" of *Borderlands 4*. He emphasized, "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 moving a game's release date forward is less common than delays, Chris Dring, Editor-In-Chief and Co-Founder of The Game Business, expressed surprise at the move, 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, Pitchford shared the exciting news about the new release date for *Borderlands 4*, 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. 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 also the parent company of *Grand Theft Auto* developer Rockstar. At the executive level, including CEO Strauss Zelnick, there is a comprehensive understanding of all games within the company’s portfolio, and a strategic approach to maximize their success.
In an interview with IGN in February, Zelnick discussed Take-Two's strategy for release timing, stating, "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 the speculation surrounding *Borderlands 4*'s new release date, there is also ongoing discussion about potential delays for *Grand Theft Auto 6*, which might shift into early winter or even the first quarter of 2026. When asked about the confidence in hitting the fall 2025 release for *GTA 6*, Zelnick cautiously remarked, "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."
