Pitchford: Borderlands 4 Timing Unaffected by Other Games

Randy Pitchford, head of Gearbox development, has clarified that moving Borderlands 4's release date forward was not influenced by any competing game's schedule. This statement addresses speculation that the shooter's shift was a reaction to titles like Marathon or Grand Theft Auto VI.

Borderlands 4, a cooperative first-person shooter originally set for September 23, will now launch on September 12 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

The eleven-day change led to theories that parent company Take-Two, which also owns GTA developer Rockstar, adjusted the schedule to give Borderlands 4 more space. Grand Theft Auto VI is still expected to launch in fall 2025.

Another theory suggested Borderlands 4 moved to avoid clashing with Bungie’s Marathon, a cooperative extraction shooter. Marathon is a key title for Sony-owned Bungie and was initially scheduled for the same September 23, 2025 release date. Today, April 30, at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET / 11 PM CEST, Borderlands 4 will be featured in a dedicated PlayStation State of Play broadcast.

However, in a tweet, Pitchford denied that any other game’s release date impacted the decision, attributing the change to "confidence" and the "development trajectory."

“Bringing Borderlands 4’s release forward is entirely due to our confidence in the game and its development progress, supported by task completion and bug resolution rates,” Pitchford stated. “Our decision has absolutely nothing to do with any other title’s actual or rumored launch date.”

While games shifting release dates forward is less common than delays, the move has raised questions. Chris Dring, Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Game Business, remarked that if competing releases were not a factor, the decision appears "a bit unusual."

"They announced a date," Dring tweeted. "It’s already on calendars, in marketing materials, and across social media. A Google search for 'Borderlands 4 release date' still shows September 23. There must be a strong commercial reason to change a date like this."

In a video message shared yesterday, Pitchford announced the unexpected change. “Development is progressing exceptionally well,” he said. “In fact, we’re hitting our best-case scenario. The game is fantastic, the team is performing brilliantly, and as a result, we’re moving the launch of Borderlands 4 forward. The new release date is September 12.”

“Can you believe it? This almost never happens! We’re releasing the game earlier! You’ll get to play Borderlands 4 sooner than expected!”

It is important to note that Borderlands 4 is published by 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two. Gearbox and the Borderlands IP are also under Take-Two’s ownership. Take-Two is the parent company of Rockstar, the developer behind Grand Theft Auto. At the executive level, including CEO Strauss Zelnick, there is oversight of all the company’s games and a goal to maximize each title’s potential for success.

In a February interview with IGN, Zelnick stated that Take-Two plans its releases carefully to avoid internal competition, emphasizing the importance of allowing players enough time to enjoy each major title.

“We schedule our releases to prevent any overlap,” Zelnick explained. “Our experience shows that when players enjoy a hit game, they remain open to other hits. Even when those hits aren’t from our portfolio, they benefit the industry. Naturally, we hope many of the biggest hits will be ours. We aim to time our launches to respect players' desire to fully experience each blockbuster before moving on to the next.”

Amid these discussions, speculation continues about a potential Grand Theft Auto VI delay, possibly into early winter or the first quarter of 2026.

When IGN asked how confident he was in Rockstar hitting the fall 2025 window for GTA VI, Zelnick replied, “There’s always some risk of delay, and I believe stating absolute certainty can tempt fate. That said, we feel very positive about the current timeline.”