Borderlands 4 Launch Brought Forward by 11 Days — What Could It Mean for the GTA 6 Release Date?

Gearbox's highly anticipated first-person shooter, *Borderlands 4*, is set to hit the shelves 11 days earlier than originally planned. This exciting news comes directly from Gearbox's development chief, Randy Pitchford, who shared the update in a video that seems to have been released prematurely.

Originally slated for a September 23 release, *Borderlands 4* will now launch on September 12, available across multiple platforms including PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and the Nintendo Switch 2. In his 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."

Pitchford's 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!" He also mentioned that a PlayStation State of Play event focusing on *Borderlands 4* is expected to be released soon.

This unexpected change in release date has sparked speculation about its timing, particularly in relation to the upcoming *Grand Theft Auto 6* (GTA 6), which is set to launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S sometime in the fall of 2025. Given that both games are published by companies under the Take-Two umbrella—*Borderlands 4* by 2K Games and GTA 6 by Rockstar Games—it's natural to wonder if the move is strategic to avoid a clash with GTA 6. Take-Two's CEO, Strauss Zelnick, would be well aware of the development timelines and market strategies for all the company's titles.

The decision to advance *Borderlands 4*'s release might be an effort to give it some breathing room before GTA 6's potential market domination. If *Borderlands 4* launches on September 12, it could effectively rule out a GTA 6 release in the same month or even August. This leaves October, November, or December 2025 as possible windows for GTA 6. However, there's a risk of Take-Two's major titles competing too closely, especially considering another 2K game, *Mafia: The Old Country*, is set to launch in the summer of 2025.

In a February interview, Zelnick addressed concerns about potential cannibalization between Take-Two's big releases. He reassured that the company plans its release schedules to avoid such risks, emphasizing respect for consumers' need to spend time with each game. "No, I think we will plan the releases so as not to have that be a problem," Zelnick stated. "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."

Despite these assurances, there remains the possibility that GTA 6 could face delays, potentially pushing its release into early winter 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."