Borderlands 4 Release Moved Up 11 Days: Impact on GTA 6 Launch?

Gearbox's much-anticipated first-person shooter, *Borderlands 4*, is set to release 11 days earlier than originally planned. This exciting news was shared by Gearbox's development chief, Randy Pitchford, in a video that inadvertently went live before its intended time.

Originally 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 a PlayStation State of Play event focused on *Borderlands 4* is expected to be released soon.

The decision to advance the release date has sparked speculation about whether this move is a strategic response to the looming release of *Grand Theft Auto 6* (GTA 6), which is currently scheduled for a fall 2025 release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. Given the vague release window for GTA 6, it could potentially overshadow other games, including *Borderlands 4*. Could this early release be an attempt 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 Rockstar, the developer of GTA 6. At the executive level, including CEO Strauss Zelnick, there would be an overarching strategy to ensure all games have the best chance of success. It's possible that recent clarity on GTA 6's release date prompted the decision to move *Borderlands 4* forward.

If *Borderlands 4* launches on September 12, it might rule out a GTA 6 release in the same month or in August. This leaves October, November, or December 2025 as potential release dates for GTA 6. However, releasing Take-Two's major titles too close together could lead to market cannibalization. Another 2K game, *Mafia: The Old Country*, is also set to launch in the summer of 2025, adding to the complexity of release timing.

In an interview with IGN in February, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick addressed concerns about potential market cannibalization. He emphasized that the company plans its releases to avoid such risks, 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 this speculation, there remains the possibility that GTA 6 could be delayed 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 responded, "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."