Gearbox Moves Borderlands 4 Release Forward — Not Because of GTA 6, Says Pitchford

Gearbox has officially announced that Borderlands 4 will now launch earlier than initially scheduled, sparking immediate speculation that the move was made to avoid competition with Grand Theft Auto 6, another major release under Take-Two’s publishing umbrella.

However, Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford addressed these rumors directly, emphasizing that the decision was based purely on 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,” Pitchford posted on X.
“Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date.”

Take-Two has previously made it clear that it doesn’t intend to release GTA and Borderlands too close together, in order to avoid internal market conflict.

GTA 6 is currently set for release in Fall 2025, with Take-Two recently reaffirming that the schedule remains on track despite the lack of a specific date. Industry analysts expect it to be the biggest entertainment launch of the year, and according to a report by The Game Business, several major publishers are shifting their own release plans to steer clear of the Rockstar juggernaut.

One top executive at a global publisher told the outlet:

“Rockstar games always suck a lot of money and, more importantly, time out of the market. We don’t want to be anywhere near that. We are working up multiple different plans for our titles.”

Another senior exec added:

“Even without GTA, it’s incredibly hard to find space for new games to shine. Time is our real constraint—not money. It’s brutal out there.”