Borderlands 4 Gameplay Deep Dive Was Main Focus of April 2025 State of Play

The State of Play for Borderlands 4 unveiled a comprehensive 20-minute official gameplay deep dive, showcasing the game's new features and mechanics. Dive into the new details revealed and understand the speculated reasons behind the game's launch date change.

Borderlands 4 State of Play: New Details Revealed

20-Minute Gameplay Deep Dive Video

The latest edition of PlayStation’s State of Play, streamed on April 30, 2025, unveiled an exciting 20-minute gameplay deep dive for Borderlands 4. This video provided fans with a glimpse into the highly anticipated looter shooter game, showcasing two of the four new Vault Hunters: Vex the Siren, who harnesses supernatural phase energy to empower herself and summon deadly minions, and Rafa the Exo-Soldier, a former Tediore trooper equipped with an experimental exo-suit that can digistruct an array of weapons.

Players are introduced to the new planet of Kairos, a world teeming with warring factions, dangerous wildlife, and desperate inhabitants, all under the oppressive rule of the Timekeeper. The main objective is to spark a revolution against this evil tyrant, forging alliances with unique factions along the way. Fan-favorite characters such as Claptrap, Moxxi, and Zane return to assist in this epic quest.

The gameplay deep dive also highlighted new features, including the innovative licensed Parts system, which allows players to customize their weapons by mixing and matching behaviors and abilities. Additional Gear slots enable more specialized builds, and the introduction of the Digirunner vehicle adds a thrilling new dimension to exploration and combat.

Gearbox Denies Launch Date Change is Influenced by Other Games

Prior to the State of Play, Gearbox Software announced that Borderlands 4's release date had been moved up by two weeks. The studio attributed this change to the "incredible development work" on the game. Despite this explanation, fans speculated that the decision might be influenced by the release plans of Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6).

Both Gearbox Software and Rockstar Games, the developers of Borderlands and GTA respectively, are subsidiaries of Take-Two Interactive. This connection led fans to suspect corporate strategy at play, especially following Take-Two's statements about their release windows during their November 2024 earnings call. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick emphasized that GTA 6 is slated for a Fall 2025 release, which would not conflict with Borderlands 4’s planned launch within the 2026 fiscal year (April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026). In a November 2024 interview with Variety, Zelnick reassured that the company would not unnecessarily stack major releases.

However, Gearbox Entertainment CEO Randy Pitchford addressed these speculations on April 30 via Twitter (X), stating that the decision to move the release date was purely based on the studio's confidence in their product. "Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date," Pitchford clarified.

Regardless of the reasons, fans can look forward to experiencing Borderlands 4 earlier than anticipated. The game is set to launch on September 12, 2025, across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. Stay tuned for more updates and insights by checking out our related articles!