Devastating Blow for Fans: Gearbox Delays Borderlands 4 on Switch 2 Indefinitely for More Development and Polish

Well, this took a turn. Borderlands 4 on Switch 2 is no longer landing on October 3, and Gearbox just hit pause with no new date in sight.

What changed

• The Switch 2 version of Borderlands 4 has been delayed from its original October 3 release date. There is no new launch date yet.
• Digital pre-orders on Switch 2 will be automatically canceled on September 26 if you do not cancel them yourself before then.
• If you pre-ordered a physical copy, Gearbox says to contact your retailer directly.
• The announcement came via Gearbox on X on September 23, 2025.

Why the delay

Gearbox says the Switch 2 build simply needs more time in the oven — more development, more polish — and they want it to hit the bar fans expect. They also want to line up the launch with cross-saves, which are in the works and a big priority for them. The studio says it will share a new date after it rejiggers the schedule.

We are committed to ensuring we deliver the best possible experience to our fans, and the game needs additional development and polish time to do that.

Between the lines

Since launch, Borderlands 4 has reviewed well overall, but players — especially on PC — have run into performance issues. Gearbox did not say the Switch 2 delay is directly tied to that, but optimizing for a handheld-first platform is a different beast than tuning for more powerful consoles and PC. Draw your own conclusions, but the timing is... suggestive.

The awkward part

There is a bit of irony here. Back in July, when Gearbox first circled October 3 for Switch 2, studio boss Randy Pitchford hyped the date in a chaotic little video, assuring everyone not to worry before revving into full carnival-barker mode. Now, a couple months later, the date is gone and we are back in TBD territory.

So what now

For the moment, all eyes are on the new date and that promised cross-save support. Ideally, this ends up being a short delay rather than a long drift — but until Gearbox finishes recalibrating, it is a wait-and-see situation.

Sidebar weirdness

In other Borderlands 4 news that feels very 'only in games': a speedrunner recently pleaded with the devs not to patch a newly discovered time-saver, and the looter-shooter’s creative director replied that he has 'got my eye on this.' Make of that what you will.