Pitchford: Borderlands 4 Launch Unaffected by Competing Titles

Randy Pitchford, the head of Gearbox development, has firmly stated that moving up the release of Borderlands 4 was not in response to any other game's launch schedule. This clarification comes amidst rumors that the shooter's date was shifted due to titles like Marathon or Grand Theft Auto 6.

The cooperative FPS Borderlands 4, originally scheduled for September 23, will now launch on September 12 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

This 11-day change prompted speculation that the release window for GTA 6 had become clearer, leading parent company Take-Two—which also owns Rockstar, the developer of GTA—to adjust its lineup to give Borderlands 4 more space. GTA 6 is still slated for a fall 2025 release.

There was also conjecture that Borderlands 4 was moved to avoid a head-to-head launch with Bungie's Marathon, a cooperative extraction shooter. Marathon is a critical title for Sony-owned Bungie and was set to release on the same day, September 23, 2025. Borderlands 4 will be featured in its own PlayStation State of Play presentation today, April 30, at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET / 11 PM CEST.

However, in a tweet, Pitchford refuted that any other game's release date influenced the decision to move Borderlands 4 forward, attributing it instead to "confidence" and the "development trajectory."

"Borderlands 4 shipping early is 100% a result of our confidence in the game and its development progress, backed by actual task completion and bug resolution rates," Pitchford stated. "Our decision has absolutely nothing to do with any other product's actual or rumored launch date."

While some games have seen their release dates moved up, it is a relatively uncommon occurrence (delays are far more frequent). Chris Dring, Editor-In-Chief and Co-Founder of The Game Business, remarked that if other releases were genuinely not a factor, the decision seems "a bit unusual."

"They had already announced a date," Dring tweeted. "It's on calendars, in marketing materials, on social media... If you Google 'Borderlands 4 release date,' it still shows September 23. There must be a strong commercial reason to change a date like that."

In a video message that appeared to be published ahead of schedule yesterday, Pitchford shared the surprise news about the new release date. "Everything is progressing exceptionally well," he said. "In fact, we are experiencing a best-case scenario. The game is fantastic, the team is performing at its peak, and therefore the launch date for Borderlands 4 is changing. We are moving it forward. The new launch date is now September 12."

"What?! This almost never happens, everyone! We're moving the launch date up! You're going to get Borderlands 4 sooner!"

It is important to note that Borderlands 4 is published by 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two. Gearbox itself and the Borderlands IP are also owned by Take-Two. Furthermore, Take-Two is the parent company of Rockstar, the developer behind GTA. At the highest levels of management, including CEO Strauss Zelnick, there is comprehensive awareness of all the company's games, their development status, and a strategic intent to maximize each title's potential for success.

In a February interview with IGN, Zelnick stated that Take-Two carefully plans its releases to prevent internal competition, emphasizing that launch timing is determined by a commitment to "respect the consumer's need to devote significant time to these major games before moving on to the next."

"No, we intend to schedule our releases strategically to avoid such issues," Zelnick explained. "Our experience shows that when consumers are engaged with hit games, they remain interested in other major titles. I've often said that even when the hits aren't ours, they benefit the entire industry. In this case, we naturally hope most of the hits will be our own. We are very optimistic and believe we will time our releases to honor the player's desire to invest substantial time in these standout games."

Amid all this discussion, there remains the possibility that GTA 6 could be delayed, potentially to early winter or even some point in the first quarter of 2026.

"There is always a risk of delays, and I believe that using absolute terms can tempt fate," Zelnick responded when IGN inquired about his confidence in Rockstar meeting the fall 2025 target for GTA 6. "That said, we feel very positive about the current timeline."