Those eager to play Borderlands 4 were happy to learn that its launch date was moved up almost a week and a half, from September 23rd to September 12th, but it wasn’t just Borderlands fans who found this announcement interesting and exciting.
Players chomping at the bit to play Grand Theft Auto VI also got excited, because one potential reason for Borderlands 4 releasing earlier could be to give it more time to breathe before GTA VI arrives and absorbs all the attention in the video game industry. Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford says that’s not the case, though.
“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,” Pitchford began in a post on X.
“Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date.”
Pichford doesn’t call out Grand Theft Auto VI, but it is almost certainly the game behind his vague “any other product” comment. Take-Two has always published the Borderlands series, but now it wholly owns the series and Gearbox. As the parent company for both Gearbox and Rockstar, Take-Two ultimately plays a huge role in planning the launch dates for the games in its portfolio.
It’s entirely possible that Pitchford approached his bosses and told them the good news that, based on Gearbox’s findings, Borderlands 4 would be ready just under a week and a half earlier than they’d already announced.
It’s also possible that Pitchford’s bosses at Take-Two asked Gearbox to do some background on whether they could release Borderlands 4 early to give it more room to breathe ahead of Grand Theft Auto VI. Or even that Pitchford proactively thought to look into the possibility of Borderlands 4 launching earlier than already announced, knowing approximately when GTA VI is due.
The final decision was likely still up to Pitchford and his team, and was almost certainly made for the reasons Pitchford lays out, but it’s not the only truth that could exist in this scenario.
When Grand Theft Auto VI finally releases, it’ll be one of the biggest releases in video game history. Other game studios are already looking to get out of its way, knowing that no one will be focused on anything besides GTA VI when it does release.
