Borderlands 4 Release Date Moved Up 11 Days: Impact on GTA 6?

Gearbox’s highly anticipated first-person shooter, *Borderlands 4*, is set to arrive earlier than originally scheduled. As revealed by Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford in an early-released video update, the game will now launch on **September 12**, 2025—nine days ahead of its previously announced September 23 release date. The title will be available across PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2.

In the message, Pitchford shared his enthusiasm for the game's development progress: “Everything is going great, actually. In fact, everything is 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 new launch date is now September 12.”

He added with visible excitement: “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 confirmed that a dedicated PlayStation State of Play presentation focusing on Borderlands 4 is coming soon, offering fans more insight into what’s in store.

While the earlier release is framed as a positive move, some may speculate whether the change was influenced by the looming release of *Grand Theft Auto 6*. Rockstar’s next major title remains slated for a fall 2025 release window on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Releasing *Borderlands 4* in mid-September could provide it with a clearer path to market before *GTA 6* dominates headlines.

It's worth noting that both Borderlands 4 and Grand Theft Auto 6 are published under the Take-Two Interactive umbrella—Borderlands 4 via 2K Games, which is owned by Take-Two, and GTA 6 through Rockstar, which is also part of the same parent company. At the executive level, including CEO Strauss Zelnick, there is likely strategic coordination regarding the positioning of these titles to maximize commercial success.

If *Borderlands 4* launches on September 12, it makes an October or later release for *GTA 6* more plausible. Could it arrive in October? November? December? Or might the game see a delay into early 2026?

This raises broader concerns about potential internal competition between Take-Two’s own high-profile releases. When asked in a February interview whether the simultaneous proximity of major releases could risk cannibalizing sales and attention, Zelnick expressed confidence in the company’s planning.

“No, I think we will plan the releases so as not to have that be a problem,” Zelnick stated. “We time our releases to respect the consumer's need to spend a lot of time playing these hit games before they go on to the next.”

He continued: “When you're giving consumers hits, they tend to be interested in pursuing other hits. 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.”

Despite the optimism, the possibility of a delay for Grand Theft Auto 6 remains a topic of discussion. When pressed on how confident he was about hitting the fall 2025 window, Zelnick responded with measured assurance: “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.”