Borderlands 4 Release Date Moved Up: Impact on GTA 6?

Gearbox has thrilled fans by announcing that their much-anticipated first-person shooter, *Borderlands 4*, will hit the shelves 11 days earlier than initially planned. This exciting news comes straight from development chief Randy Pitchford, who shared the update in a video that was inadvertently released ahead of schedule.

Originally slated for a September 23 release, *Borderlands 4* will now launch on September 12, 2025, across multiple platforms including PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and the Nintendo Switch 2. In the revealing 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." His excitement was palpable as he 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 fans can look forward to an upcoming PlayStation State of Play focused entirely on *Borderlands 4*, promising more details soon.

This unexpected move has sparked speculation about whether the decision to advance *Borderlands 4*'s release is a strategic maneuver to avoid clashing with the highly anticipated *Grand Theft Auto 6* (GTA 6), which is set to launch sometime in the fall of 2025 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. Given the vague release window for GTA 6, it's possible that *Borderlands 4* is being positioned to secure a distinct market window.

It's important to note that *Borderlands 4* is published by 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two, which also owns Rockstar Games, the developers behind GTA 6. At the executive level, including CEO Strauss Zelnick, there's likely a strategic overview of all releases to ensure each game has the best possible chance of success. This could indicate that recent developments regarding GTA 6's release prompted the decision to move *Borderlands 4* forward.

With *Borderlands 4* set to release on September 12, it seems unlikely that GTA 6 would launch in the same month or in August. However, October, November, or December 2025 remain potential release dates for GTA 6. There's a risk, though, of Take-Two's major releases cannibalizing each other if they are released too closely. Additionally, another 2K title, *Mafia: The Old Country*, is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2025, adding another layer to Take-Two's release strategy.

In an interview conducted in February, IGN asked Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick about the potential for their big titles to compete with each other. Zelnick assured that Take-Two plans its releases carefully to avoid such conflicts, emphasizing the need to "respect the consumer's need to spend a lot of time playing these hit games before they go on to the next." He confidently stated, "No, I think we will plan the releases so as not to have that be a problem... 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 all the speculation, there's always the possibility that GTA 6 could face delays, potentially pushing its release into early winter 2025 or even the first quarter of 2026. When asked about the confidence in hitting the fall 2025 target 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."