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

Gearbox's highly anticipated first-person shooter, Borderlands 4, is set to launch earlier than expected, with the release date moving up by 11 days. This exciting news was shared by development chief Randy Pitchford in a video that inadvertently went live ahead of schedule.

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 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."

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 hinted at an upcoming PlayStation State of Play event dedicated to Borderlands 4, which is expected to be released soon.

This unexpected move has sparked speculation about its relation to the looming release of Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6), which is scheduled for a fall 2025 release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. The broad release window for GTA 6 has led to questions about whether Borderlands 4's earlier launch is a strategic move to avoid direct competition. Given that both games are published by companies under the Take-Two umbrella—2K Games for Borderlands 4 and Rockstar for GTA 6—it's plausible that corporate strategy might be at play.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, in a February interview, addressed concerns about potential cannibalization between the company's major releases. He emphasized that Take-Two aims to space out its game launches to allow consumers ample time to engage with each title. Zelnick 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... 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."

The earlier release of Borderlands 4 might also affect the speculated release timeline for GTA 6, potentially ruling out a launch in the same month or August. October, November, or December 2025 now seem like viable options for GTA 6. However, there remains a risk of Take-Two's big titles, particularly GTA 6, overlapping and impacting each other's sales. Additionally, another 2K game, Mafia: The Old Country, is set to launch in the summer of 2025, adding another layer to the release strategy.

Amidst all this speculation, there's also 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 window for GTA 6, Zelnick cautiously noted, "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."