April 2025 State of Play Highlights Borderlands 4 Gameplay

The State of Play event for Borderlands 4, held on April 30, 2025, provided an exciting 20-minute gameplay deep dive, showcasing the game's new features and mechanics. This article explores the new details revealed and delves into fan theories about the game's changed launch date.

Borderlands 4 State of Play New Details Revealed

20-Minute Gameplay Deep Dive Video

The latest PlayStation State of Play event unveiled a comprehensive 20-minute gameplay deep dive for Borderlands 4, the much-anticipated looter shooter. The video introduced two of the four new Vault Hunters: Vex the Siren, who harnesses supernatural phase energy to empower herself and summon deadly minions, and Rafa the Exo-Soldier, a former Tediore trooper equipped with an experimental exo-suit that can digistruct an arsenal of weapons.

The gameplay also introduced players to the new planet of Kairos, a world filled with warring factions, deadly fauna, and desperate inhabitants, all under the oppressive rule of the Timekeeper. Players will embark on a mission to ignite a revolution against this tyrant, meeting and recruiting unique factions along the way. Familiar faces like Claptrap, Moxxi, and Zane return to assist in this epic quest.

New features showcased include the innovative licensed Parts system, allowing players to mix and match weapon behaviors and abilities, new Gear slots for more specialized builds, and the introduction of a new vehicle, the Digirunner, among other exciting additions.

Gearbox Denies Launch Date Change is Influenced by Other Games

Prior to the State of Play, Gearbox Software announced that Borderlands 4's release date had been moved up by two weeks. The studio attributed this change to the "incredible development work" on the game. However, fans speculated that the decision might be influenced by the release plans of Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6).

Both Gearbox Software and Rockstar Games, the developers of Borderlands and GTA respectively, are owned by Take-Two Interactive. This connection led fans to believe that the companies might be coordinating their release schedules, especially after Take-Two's statement about their release windows during an earnings call in November 2024. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed that GTA 6 is set for a Fall 2025 release, which would not conflict with Borderlands 4's planned launch within the 2026 fiscal year (April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026).

Addressing these speculations, Gearbox Entertainment CEO Randy Pitchford took to Twitter (X) on April 30 to clarify that the decision to move up the release date was solely based on the studio's confidence in their product. "Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date," Pitchford emphasized.

Regardless of the reasons behind the change, fans can look forward to experiencing Borderlands 4 earlier than expected. The game is now set to launch on September 12, 2025, across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. Stay tuned for more updates by checking out our related articles below!