Borderlands 4 Switch 2 Development Paused, as GTA Publisher Says It’s ‘Incredibly Excited’ About Bringing Other Games to Nintendo’s Console Instead

Borderlands 4 publisher Take-Two has said that development on the game’s Switch 2 version is officially now on “pause” following its last-minute delay.

A Switch 2 port for the Gearbox looter shooter was initially announced during Nintendo’s big April 2025 Direct and then pegged to arrive on October 3, 2025, before its release was scrubbed just a week prior to launch. Pre-orders were cancelled, though Gearbox framed the move as a delay, not a full scrapping of the project.

Indeed, the developer said it hoped to “align” its Switch 2 release with the addition of cross saves to the game — something which now seems to no longer be on the cards.

Speaking to Variety this week, a Take-Two spokesperson has said that work on Borderlands 4’s Switch 2 edition was no longer ongoing, as Gearbox prioritized continued “improvements” to the game on its existing platforms.

It’s a curious situation, not least because the game’s Switch 2 version got so close to release, and had been played publicly in demo form at various events last year, such as at Gamescom 2025 in Cologne. Opinion on the game’s Switch 2 demo was mixed, though Borderlands 4 has also suffered from technical issues even on the more powerful PlayStation 5 Pro and Xbox Series X. The game’s Steam review rating has also suffered from negative comments regarding its PC performance, too.

“We made the difficult decision to pause development on that SKU,” Take-Two spokesperson Alan Lewis told Variety this week. “Our focus continues to be delivering quality post-launch content for players on the ongoing improvements to optimize the game.

“We’re continuing to collaborate closely with our friends at Nintendo. We have PGA Tour 2K25 coming out and WWE 2K26 [for Switch 2], and we’re incredibly excited about bringing more of our titles to that platform in the future.”

That last sentence is intriguing, too — the suggestion that Take-Two may now be focusing its Switch 2 plans elsewhere. Could Nintendo’s console become home to GTA 6, which looks increasingly likely to make its late 2026 launch date? Time will tell. Last night, we also learned that GTA 6 will not skip a physical edition at launch, despite rumors to the contrary.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social