Randy Pitchford: Borderlands 4 Release Date Unaffected by Other Games

Randy Pitchford, the development chief at Gearbox, has firmly stated that the decision to advance the release date of the cooperative first-person shooter, Borderlands 4, was not influenced by the launch schedules of other games. This clarification comes amidst rumors that the move might have been a strategic response to the upcoming releases of games like Marathon by Bungie or Grand Theft Auto 6 by Rockstar Games.

Borderlands 4 was originally slated for a September 23 release but will now hit the shelves on September 12, available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2. This adjustment sparked speculation that the move was made to avoid competing directly with GTA 6, which is set to launch in the fall of 2025, and is also under the Take-Two umbrella, the parent company of both Gearbox and Rockstar.

Further speculation arose due to the potential clash with Marathon, a crucial release for Sony-owned Bungie, planned for the same original release date of September 23, 2025. Adding to the buzz, Borderlands 4 will feature in a dedicated PlayStation State of Play broadcast on April 30 at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 11pm CEST.

However, Pitchford took to social media to dismiss these speculations, emphasizing that the decision to move Borderlands 4's release date forward stemmed purely from "confidence" in the game and its development progress. He stated, "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. Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date."

While it's not uncommon for games to have their release dates pushed back, moving a release date forward is less typical. Chris Dring, Editor-In-Chief and Co-Founder of The Game Business, expressed his surprise at the move, noting that if the decision wasn't influenced by other games' release dates, it seemed "a bit odd." He highlighted the logistical efforts already put into the original date, including marketing materials and public announcements.

In a video message released early yesterday, Pitchford shared the news of the new release date, expressing enthusiasm about the game's progress. "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."

He continued with excitement, "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, a subsidiary of Take-Two, which also owns Gearbox and the Borderlands IP, as well as Rockstar Games, the developer of GTA 6. At the executive level, including CEO Strauss Zelnick, there is a comprehensive view of all game developments and a strategic intent to optimize the success of each title.

In a February interview with IGN, Zelnick discussed Take-Two's approach to release timing, emphasizing a strategy to avoid cannibalization of their own products. He 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. In other words, I've said this many times, even when the hits aren't ours, they're a good thing for the industry. 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 the discussions around Borderlands 4's release, there's also speculation about potential delays for GTA 6, possibly shifting to early winter or the first quarter of 2026. When asked about the confidence in meeting the fall 2025 release 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."