The launch of Borderlands 4 arrived with massive community anticipation, but the reality proved to be something of a mixed bag. While the development team clearly delivered on many design choices and interesting features, the game’s initial technical shortcomings led to a highly polarised reception and a controversial debut. Or at least, it would have been simply controversial, but Randy Pitchford decided to double down and tell us it’s the gamers who are wrong. So, let’s take a quick dive into the wins and losses that are defining its launch, and hopefully, see if there is anything that can be done to improve it.
Right: Value
One of the game’s immediate concerns was that it was going to have a base cost of $80. But it was a win consumer upon launch as it launched at just $69.99. Players were somewhat surprised by both the official price point and, at the time, the relatively modest system requirements, which were generally better than expected, which we covered in more detail here.
Wrong: Player Accessibility
While expectations of value and performance were high, the wheels fell almost immediately. A quality mode that runs at 30 FPS on the latest consoles, and a performance mode that often struggles to reach 60 FPS on consoles, and even lower, should you consider using the split-screen function, arguably the core feature that defined the series.
Minimum:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 / Windows 11
- Processor: Intel Core i7-9700 / AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 / AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
- Storage: 100 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system. Requires 8 CPU Cores for the processor. Requires 8 GB VRAM for graphics. SSD storage required
Recommended:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 / Windows 11
- Processor: Intel Core i7-12700 / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
- Memory: 32 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
- Storage: 100 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system. Requires 8+ CPU Cores for the processor. Requires 12+ GB VRAM for graphics. SSD storage required
PC gamers came off even worse. On the PC front, the game looked towards the future by immediately supporting cutting-edge performance technology. The confirmation of NVIDIA DLSS 4 and Frame Generation capabilities at launch ensured that users had the tools to push frame rates to their limits. This demonstrated a willingness to embrace new tech to improve the player experience. However, the reality was that even on flagship hardware such as the RTX 5090, aggressive upscaling and frame generation were needed to reach 60 FPS.
When the majority of the market and player base isn’t using recommended hardware, you’re creating an environment that limits player accessibility and results in the social media s***storm from gamers who can’t play the game. The Steam Hardware survey seems to largely get ignored by developers in a bid to push people to buy new hardware. But when that new hardware is prohibitively expensive and still doesn’t perform great for your game, well, you’re not being very consumer-friendly, are you? So a thumbs down from me for player accessibility here.
Right: Smart Design Choices for the Veteran Player
The developers showed they were listening to player feedback by implementing modern quality-of-life and challenge features. Crucially, the difficulty in Borderlands 4 was designed to scale specifically on the player’s character and not other game elements, ensuring a focused challenge. Furthermore, the endgame mode was specifically designed not to force players to repeat the main campaign, a welcome relief for veterans focused purely on the loot grind and replayability.
Wrong: A Disastrous Launch and Immediate Patching
The initial optimism quickly evaporated as the game’s technical state overshadowed its design achievements. Widespread performance issues and bugs led to immediate community backlash, with our own coverage calling it disastrous, and we’re not alone in that opinion. The technical woes were so severe that the necessity for a swift, post-launch patch to address critical performance issues was immediately confirmed, underscoring the rushed nature of the release. Unfortunately, this is ongoing, and significant updates and performance patches are still required.
Wrong: Performance Degrades Over Time
The ongoing memory leak issue is still significant, too, especially on consoles. The longer you play the game (often, 45mins+), the lower the frame rate gets. Restarting the game does offer a temporary solution. But don’t worry, Randy said it’s optimised /s.
Wrong: Unreal Engine 5 and The Optimisation “Crutch”
While the inclusion of DLSS 4 was initially a positive point, its necessity raised uncomfortable questions about the game’s core optimisation. We reported that Borderlands 4 was effectively “leaning on” advanced technologies like DLSS 4 and Frame Generation as a “crutch” to achieve high frame rates, rather than delivering a natively well-optimised experience on its own. Unfortunately, that seems to hold true.
Unreal Engine 5 can be brilliant, but it’s plagued with high system requirements, shader caching and stuttering issues, all of which are present in Borderlands 4. While technologies like Lumen (an in-engine form of Ray Tracing) can look great, they are extremely demanding to use, even on the latest hardware.
To be clear, DLSS, FrameGen, Ray Tracing, Lumen and many other of these new technologies are amazing when used in moderation and to provide extra value. However, they are clearly not welcome for many gamers when they’re being used to deliver (at best) the bare minimum of visual or performance targets.
Wrong: Missing Essential Console Features (But Not For Long)
Adding to the controversy was the omission of basic quality-of-life settings expected in a modern shooter. Console players, particularly, were frustrated by the complete lack of an FOV (Field of View) slider on both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series systems. While a response from Randy Pitchford addressed the community’s concern, the absence of such a staple feature in a current-generation FPS was a significant and immediately criticised misstep.
While they have said that they’ll add one in a new patch, which may be out by the time you read this. However, I’m sure a wider FOV will take another huge dump on the FPS. Also, I love this reddit comment regarding the above.
Right: The Gameplay
Honestly, the game is actually pretty great. It’s been well reviewed, and when it works well enough to enjoy it, it’s full of co-op goodness. The graphics, while not as bleeding-edge as the hardware requirements and performance would have you think, do look great, and there’s still that Borderlands vibe we know and love. The more mature tone of the game, the skill trees, and the improved mobility in-game are all huge thumbs up.
Right AND Wrong: The Nintendo Switch 2
Just a couple of weeks before its planned release, Gearbox Software announced that the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Borderlands 4 has been delayed indefinitely, with no new date yet confirmed. Given the performance on more powerful consoles and even on powerful PCs, literally every gamer was sceptical about the performance on the latest Nintendo hybrid console. Unfortunately, it seems even Randy Pitchford has had to eat his hat with this one. So I think it was both wrong to think they could achieve playable performance with this game, but they also made the right move in delaying it indefinitely, and fully refunding all customers who had pre-ordered.
Conclusion: A Game of Contradictions
Borderlands 4 is a game of contradictions. Likely why it’s sitting with a Mixed review score on Steam. Its release was defined by a tension between innovative design—respecting player time with non-repetitive endgame loops and character-centric difficulty—and deeply flawed technical execution that requires immediate patching. The initial excitement from the trailer confirming features like split-screen quickly gave way to technical frustration. The ultimate success of the title will hinge on whether the incoming fixes can quickly stabilise the experience and allow the smart design choices to take centre stage, rescuing the game from its controversial start.
Unfortunately, Randy Pitchford has a poor track record of issuing significant changes or fixes for major issues in the franchise, so I wouldn’t hold your breath beyond delivering the bare minimum of updates. Even to this day, the Borderlands 3 UI is utterly hopeless in splitscreen. I also do not see DLSS usage being reduced with optimisation patches, so even you RTX 5090 users won’t be seeing native 60 FPS at 4K any time soon, of this I am certain.
Still, I do enjoy the game, and if you are eager to try it, you can find more information and prices here. Or jump on over to Steam, where it’s available for £59.99 at the time of writing.
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