Borderlands 4 Launch Date Moved Up: GTA 6 Release Implications?

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 development chief Randy Pitchford, who shared the update in a video that was released ahead of schedule.

Originally slated for release on September 23, Borderlands 4 will now launch on September 12. This early release will be available across multiple platforms, including PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and the forthcoming Nintendo Switch 2.

In the 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." He further emphasized the rarity of such a move, exclaiming, "What?! This never happens you guys! This never happens! We're moving the launch date forward! You're gonna get Borderlands 4 earlier!"

Pitchford also mentioned that a PlayStation State of Play event focused on Borderlands 4 is expected to be released soon.

The decision to advance the release date of Borderlands 4 has sparked speculation about its relation to the looming release of 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. The vague release window for GTA 6 has raised concerns about potential market saturation and the impact on other games, including Borderlands 4. Some wonder if the earlier release of Borderlands 4 is a strategic move to carve out a distinct space in the gaming calendar.

It's important to note that Borderlands 4 is published by 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two, which is also the parent company of Rockstar, the developer behind GTA 6. At the executive level, including CEO Strauss Zelnick, there is likely a strategic overview of all games under the Take-Two umbrella, aiming to optimize their release schedules for maximum success. The possibility that GTA 6's more concrete release date prompted the earlier launch of Borderlands 4 cannot be dismissed.

If Borderlands 4 launches on September 12, it might eliminate the possibility of GTA 6 releasing in the same month or in August. This leaves October, November, or December 2025 as potential release dates for GTA 6. However, the risk of releasing Take-Two's major titles too close to each other remains, potentially leading to market cannibalization. Another 2K game, Mafia: The Old Country, is also slated for release in the summer of 2025, adding to the complexity of the release schedule.

In a February interview, IGN posed the question of potential cannibalization to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. Zelnick assured that the company is planning its releases carefully to avoid such issues, emphasizing the importance of giving consumers enough time to fully engage with each game. 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... 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 speculation, there is also the possibility that GTA 6 might be delayed into early winter or the first quarter of 2026. When asked about the confidence in hitting 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."