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, despite speculation linking the move to titles like *Marathon* or *Grand Theft Auto 6*.
Originally slated for a September 23 release, *Borderlands 4*—a co-op focused first-person shooter—will now hit the shelves on September 12, available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2. This 11-day shift has fueled speculation that the move might be connected to *GTA 6*, which is still scheduled for a fall 2025 launch. Both games are under the umbrella of Take-Two, the parent company of *GTA* developer Rockstar, leading to theories that Take-Two might be adjusting its release schedule to give *Borderlands 4* more market space.
There was also chatter about a potential clash with Bungie's *Marathon*, another co-op focused extraction shooter set to release on the same day as *Borderlands 4* was initially planned, September 23, 2025. *Marathon* is a significant title for Bungie, now owned by Sony. Amidst this, *Borderlands 4* is set to have 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, emphasizing that the decision to move *Borderlands 4*'s release date forward was purely based on "confidence" and the game's "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 games to have their release dates shifted, moving a date forward is less typical than delays. Chris Dring, Editor-In-Chief and Co-Founder of The Game Business, expressed skepticism about 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 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. This same company is the parent of *GTA* developer Rockstar. At the executive level, including CEO Strauss Zelnick, there is likely a strategic overview of all game releases to maximize their success.
In a February interview with IGN, Zelnick discussed Take-Two's approach to release timing, aiming to avoid cannibalization and respect consumer engagement with hit games. 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, there's ongoing speculation about potential delays for *GTA 6*, possibly 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."
