First Looks at Borderlands 4 and Mafia: The Old Country Set for the Game Awards

[DogOfViolence]

2K has announced two of its big hitters are set for fresh reveals at this week’s The Game Awards: Borderlands 4 and Mafia: The Old Country.


“Who's ready to get their first look at the most ambitious Borderlands yet?!” reads the tweet from the Borderlands account.

Prepare yourselves! We’re about to crank things up to the next fucking level at #TheGameAwards.

Who's ready to get their first look at the most ambitious Borderlands yet?! pic.twitter.com/u7SJ2K2MPZ

— Borderlands (@Borderlands) December 9, 2024

“See you at @thegameawards!” reads the tweet from the Mafia account.

See you at @thegameawards! #MafiaTheOldCountry #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/0RVfkJLpx0

— Mafia Game (@mafiagame) December 9, 2024

Gearbox development chief Randy Pitchford tweeted to hype up the Borderlands 4 trailer, which he said includes gameplay. He added that he will also share an original cinematic sequence depicting a moment that occurs about halfway between the end of Borderlands 3 and the beginning of Borderlands 4.

Both Borderlands 4 and Mafia: The Old Country are due out at some point in 2025, potentially running up against the behemoth that is Grand Theft Auto 6. Last month, Rockstar and 2K parent company Take-Two insisted GTA 6 was still on course for launch during fall 2025, despite ongoing speculation that Rockstar may delay the game into 2026. 2K is set to release Borderlands 4 during the same fiscal year (at some point between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026).

Is there a danger, then, that GTA 6 will eat Borderlands 4’s lunch? Not so, according to Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick. Speaking to Variety, Zelnick said that while he couldn’t offer a release date for GTA 6, the guaranteed megahit won’t cross paths with Borderlands 4. “I think it’s safe to say that we wouldn’t, and no one would, stack up huge releases unnecessarily,” Zelnick said.

What does this mean for Borderlands 4’s release date? Well, in order for it to get out of the way of GTA 6 (assuming GTA 6 does indeed release fall 2025), and to fit in with the next fiscal year, it would either have to launch in the April to June 2025 quarter or the January to March 2026 quarter.

GTA 6 will probably be the biggest video game launch of all time, so no other game is safe from its gravitational pull. Even the might of Call of Duty, set to launch yet another premium iteration around October or November 2025, will be sorely tested by GTA 6.

The Game Awards 2024 is set for December 12.


Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].