Gearbox's highly anticipated first-person shooter, *Borderlands 4*, is set to launch 11 days earlier than originally scheduled. This exciting news was announced by Gearbox's development chief, Randy Pitchford, in a video that inadvertently went live prematurely. Initially slated 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.
In the video, Pitchford expressed 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 promised PlayStation State of Play, focused on *Borderlands 4*, is expected to be released soon.
The decision to move *Borderlands 4*'s release date forward has sparked speculation about its relation to the upcoming release of *Grand Theft Auto 6* (GTA 6). Currently, GTA 6 is slated for a fall 2025 release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, a window that could potentially overshadow other game releases, including *Borderlands 4*. Given that both games are under the umbrella of Take-Two, with *Borderlands 4* published by 2K Games and GTA 6 developed by Rockstar, it's conceivable that the decision to advance *Borderlands 4*'s release was strategic, perhaps to avoid direct competition with GTA 6.
With *Borderlands 4* set to launch on September 12, it's unlikely that GTA 6 will be released in the same month or in August. Potential release dates for GTA 6 could now be in October, November, or December 2025. However, this raises concerns about the possibility of Take-Two's major releases cannibalizing each other's sales if released too closely together. Another 2K game, *Mafia: The Old Country*, is also scheduled for a summer 2025 release, adding to the complexity of Take-Two's release strategy.
In an interview with Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick in February, he addressed these concerns, emphasizing that the company plans its releases to avoid cannibalization. Zelnick explained, "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... 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 remains the possibility that GTA 6 could be delayed into early winter or even 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."
