Randy Pitchford says launching on September 12th is “100 percent the result of confidence in the game and development trajectory.”

Gearbox recently moved up the release date for Borderlands 4, sparking discussion over conflicts with other potential releases. With its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, wanting to avoid a launch close to Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 6, some have speculated that the latter could arrive in late September/early October.

Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford didn’t comment on GTA 6 specifically but revealed that the new date has nothing to do with competition. “Borderlands 4 shipping early is 100 percent the result of confidence in the game and development trajectory backed by actual tasks and bug find/fix rates,” he said on Twitter.

“Our decision is literally zero percent about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date.” It could also mean the new release date is unrelated to Bungie’s Marathon, scheduled to launch on September 23rd.

Pitchford tweeted about the development progress, calling it a “best-case scenario” and the team is “cooking.” Of course, we’ll learn plenty more when the next State of Play drops today at 2 PM PDT, showcasing over 20 minutes of new gameplay. Fans can expect to see new missions, weapons and characters alongside some familiar faces.

Borderlands 4 launches on September 12th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.