April 2025 State of Play Highlights Borderlands 4 Gameplay

The State of Play event for Borderlands 4 delivered an exciting 20-minute gameplay deep dive, showcasing the game's new features and mechanics. This article delves into the fresh details revealed during the event and explores the fan theories surrounding the game's revised launch date.

20-Minute Gameplay Deep Dive Video

The Borderlands 4 State of Play, streamed on April 30, 2025, provided fans with a comprehensive look at the upcoming looter shooter. The gameplay video highlighted two of the four new Vault Hunters: Vex the Siren, who harnesses supernatural phase energy to empower herself and summon deadly minions, and Rafa the Exo-Soldier, a former Tediore trooper equipped with an experimental exo-suit that can digistruct an arsenal of weapons.

The new planet, Kairos, was introduced as a battleground filled with warring factions, deadly wildlife, and desperate inhabitants, all under the oppressive rule of the Timekeeper. Players will strive to ignite a revolution against this tyrant, engaging with unique factions and recruiting them to their cause. Beloved characters like Claptrap, Moxxi, and Zane return to assist in this quest.

New gameplay mechanics were also showcased, including the innovative licensed Parts system, allowing players to customize their weapons by mixing and matching behaviors and abilities. Additional features include new Gear slots for specialized builds and the introduction of the Digirunner, a new vehicle for traversing the game's expansive world.

Gearbox Denies Launch Date Change is Influenced by Other Games

Prior to the State of Play, Gearbox Software announced that Borderlands 4's release date had been moved up by two weeks. The studio attributed this change to the game's "incredible development work." However, fans speculated that the decision might be influenced by other game releases, particularly Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6).

Both Gearbox Software and Rockstar Games, the developers of Borderlands and GTA respectively, are subsidiaries of Take-Two Interactive. This connection fueled speculation, especially after Take-Two's statements about their game release windows during their November 2024 earnings call.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick had previously clarified that GTA 6's planned Fall 2025 release would not conflict with Borderlands 4's intended launch window in Take-Two's 2026 fiscal year (April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026). In an interview with Variety, Zelnick emphasized that the company would not intentionally schedule major releases to coincide.

Gearbox Entertainment CEO Randy Pitchford addressed these speculations on Twitter (X) on April 30, asserting that the decision to move up the release date was purely based on confidence in the product. "Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date," Pitchford stated.

Regardless of the reasons behind the date change, fans can look forward to an early release of Borderlands 4 on September 12, 2025, available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. Stay tuned for more updates and information about the game in our upcoming articles!