Randy Pitchford: Borderlands 4's Early Release Not Tied to Other Game Launches

Randy Pitchford, the development chief at Gearbox, has firmly stated that the decision to release Borderlands 4 earlier than initially planned was not influenced by the release dates of other games, such as Marathon or Grand Theft Auto 6. Despite speculation that the move might have been prompted by the need to avoid competition, Borderlands 4 has been rescheduled from September 23 to September 12, 2025, and will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

The 11-day shift led to theories that the release date of GTA 6, which is still set for the fall of 2025, might have played a role in the decision. Take-Two, the parent company of both Gearbox and GTA developer Rockstar, was thought to be adjusting its release strategy to give Borderlands 4 more market space. Additionally, there were concerns about a potential clash with Bungie's Marathon, a co-op focused extraction shooter also slated for September 23, 2025. Borderlands 4 is set to be showcased in a dedicated PlayStation State of Play broadcast on April 30, 2025, at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 11pm CEST.

However, Pitchford took to social media to clarify the situation, emphasizing that the early release of Borderlands 4 was solely due to confidence in the game's development progress and trajectory. "Borderlands 4 shipping early is 100% the result of confidence in the game and development trajectory backed by actual tasks and bug find/fix rates," he tweeted. "Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date."

While it's common for game release dates to be delayed, moving a release date forward is less typical. Chris Dring, Editor-In-Chief and Co-Founder of The Game Business, expressed skepticism about the reasons given for the change, noting the logistical efforts already put into the original date. "They’ve gone out with a date," Dring tweeted. "It’s on calendars, market materials, social assets... Put ‘Borderlands 4 release date’ into Google and it still says Sep 23. There’s surely got to be a good commercial reason to shift a date."

In a video message released early, Pitchford shared the news of the new release date with excitement. "Everything is going great, actually," he said. "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. What?! This never happens you guys! This never happens! We’re moving the launch date forward! You’re gonna get Borderlands 4 earlier!”

Borderlands 4 is published by 2K Games, which, like Gearbox and the Borderlands IP, is owned by Take-Two. This same conglomerate also owns GTA developer Rockstar, and at the executive level, including CEO Strauss Zelnick, there is a comprehensive understanding of the development status and release strategies for all their games. Zelnick, in an interview with IGN in February, emphasized Take-Two's strategy to avoid release cannibalization and respect consumer engagement with hit titles. "No, I think we will plan the releases so as not to have that be a problem," he said. "And what we found is when you're giving consumers hits, they tend to be interested in pursuing other hits."

Amidst these developments, there remains speculation about potential delays for GTA 6, possibly shifting into early winter or the first quarter of 2026. Zelnick responded cautiously to inquiries about the confidence in meeting the fall 2025 release for GTA 6, saying, "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."