Borderlands 4’s release date has been pushed up to Sept. 12 from the previously announced date of Sept. 23. One theory says it’s because of Grand Theft Auto 6 — specifically, to give more gamers more time to potentially play Borderlands 4 before they get sucked into GTA 6. That absolutely isn’t the case, says Gearbox co-founder Randy Pitchford. “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 tweeted on Tuesday. ”Our decision is literally 0% about any other product’s actual or theoretical launch date.“ He continued: We’re super confident in the game and we are ready to launch early, so there was no sense in holding out. The sooner we launch, the sooner we’ll also get feedback. We listen and learn and are excited to get a bite at that apple as we are working on exciting post-launch efforts. GTA 6 maker Rockstar Games hasn’t announced a release date for the game, but has said it plans to publish it this year. It’s the most anticipated game of the year, and it’s expected to dominate the global gaming conversation for a while. Grand Theft Auto 5, its predecessor, surpassed $1 billion in sales in its first week, and has remained culturally relevant for more than a decade. Gearbox is expected to show off a bit more of Borderlands 4 in its own dedicated State of Play broadcast scheduled for 5 p.m. ET on Thursday. The 20-minute showcase will feature “developer-guided gameplay, including missions, killer weapons, and exciting Action Skills, new and returning characters, and more,” per a news release.