Gearbox says Borderlands 4 did not change its date because of GTA 6

Gearbox, the studio behind the upcoming Borderlands 4, says that Grand Theft Auto 6 had nothing to do with yesterday’s new release date. A surprise announcement shifted Borderlands 4’s release date from September 23rd to September 12th, almost two weeks earlier than originally planned. This news also arrived alongside news of a PlayStation State of Play focused on the new Borderlands title. Since Gearbox, the studio behind Borderlands is owned by 2K, which is owned by Take Two, which owns Grand Theft Auto 6, many people started drawing connections to figure out why the date has changed.

Gearbox says moving Borderlands 4 release date has nothing to do with GTA 6

In a post on social media, Gearbox’s CEO Randy Pitchford, explained that the move had nothing to do with anything other than how great development is going on Borderlands 4. His post reads: “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. Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date.” So while Grand Theft Auto 6 was not mentioned by name, it seems obvious that this was at least one of the “products” in mind. Bungie’s Marathon also recently announced a release date for September 23rd, so people were throwing that theory around too.

Many developers have shared that the launch date for Grand Theft Auto 6 is something they would do their best to avoid. Grand Theft Auto 6 is inarguably the most anticipated game launch, so it’s easy to imagine it overshadowing anything else. On a smaller scale, we have already seen this with last week’s surprise announcement of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. People were worried about indie RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 at first, but that game has found its audience. Meanwhile, other smaller indie games didn’t have quite the same experience.

Borderlands 4 is no doubt one of the biggest launches of the year, but no one would blink an eye if it moved for Grand Theft Auto 6. Sure, they are both games from Take Two, and they are very different styles of game, but even from a larger business perspective it makes sense. The hope would be that both games have space to find their audience. Take Two wants people to have enough time to play Borderlands 4 before jumping over to Grand Theft Auto 6.

I wouldn’t even be surprised if Rockstar waited to announce the release date until after Borderlands 4 launches. If people knew that Grand Theft Auto 6 was going to be released in two months, I imagine at least a portion of people would choose to save their money for GTA rather than buy Borderlands now. Nothing against Borderlands 4, I’m sure it’s going to be a great game, but that’s just the power of Grand Theft Auto 6.

Borderlands 4

September 11, 2025

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• Overview

• Gearbox
• Borderlands (franchise)
• GTA / Grand Theft Auto (franchise)