Randy Pitchford: Borderlands 4 Release Date Unaffected by Other Products

Randy Pitchford, the development chief at Gearbox, has firmly stated that the decision to move up the release date of Borderlands 4 was not influenced by the launch schedules of other games, such as Marathon or Grand Theft Auto 6. Originally slated for a September 23 release, Borderlands 4 will now hit the shelves on September 12, available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

This unexpected 11-day shift has fueled speculation that the move might be a strategic response to avoid clashing with other major titles. Notably, GTA 6 is still set to launch in the fall of 2025, and there's been chatter about potential delays pushing it into early winter or even the first quarter of 2026. Additionally, Marathon, a co-op focused extraction shooter from Bungie, was also scheduled for the same release date as the original Borderlands 4 launch.

Despite these speculations, Pitchford took to social media to clarify that the decision to advance the release date was purely based on the team's confidence in the game and its development progress. "Borderlands 4 shipping early is 100% the result of confidence in the game and development trajectory backed by actual tasks and bug find/fix rates," he tweeted. "Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date."

The move to bring forward a release date is unusual in the gaming industry, where delays are far more common. Chris Dring, Editor-In-Chief and Co-Founder of The Game Business, expressed skepticism about Pitchford's explanation, suggesting that there must be a compelling commercial reason behind the date shift, especially given that the original date was already well-publicized.

In a video message released early, Pitchford shared the news with excitement, emphasizing the positive developments in the game's creation. "Everything is going great, actually," he said. "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."

It's important to note that Borderlands 4 is published by 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two, which also owns Gearbox and the Borderlands IP, as well as Rockstar, the developer of GTA 6. At the executive level, decisions are made with an overarching view of all the company's projects, aiming to maximize their success. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has previously discussed the company's strategy to avoid release date conflicts that could lead to "cannibalization" of sales, emphasizing the importance of giving consumers ample time to enjoy each game.

In an interview with IGN, Zelnick 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. 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."

While the speculation around Borderlands 4's new release date continues, the gaming community eagerly awaits further updates on GTA 6 and other anticipated titles.