Borderlands 4, a title eagerly anticipated by many, launched on Steam this week drawing over 175,000 concurrent players. However, its debut has been largely overshadowed by a growing wave of negative reviews, with the predominant complaint revolving around the game`s severe performance issues on PC.
Player Frustrations Mount
Steam users have been vocal about their disappointments. One reviewer, known as “Satan Claus,” described Borderlands 4 as an “unholy trio of pricing, Unreal Engine 5, and Denuvo.” While acknowledging the game as “the best Borderlands since 2,” praising its writing, gunplay, and immersive world, the user highlighted that these positive aspects are meaningless when gameplay is constantly interrupted by hitches, crashes, and drastic frame rate drops. The experience was vividly compared to having a “gourmet meal behind a glass case” but only being given a “plastic fork” to eat it.
Another user, “Rej,” succinctly pointed to “terrible optimization,” advising prospective buyers to avoid the game in its current state “unless you have a NASA PC.” Even players equipped with high-end graphics cards, such as a 4070ti Super, reported significant struggles to achieve a stable 60 frames per second even with upscaling enabled. Despite calling it a “cartoon game,” implying less demanding graphics, one user stated that this might be “some of the worst optimization ever,” though they believe it could be “really good” with proper updates.
Unplayable for Some High-End Systems
Reports indicate that for some players, the PC version is “nearly unplayable.” Users running powerful hardware, including an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and a Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-core CPU, have experienced persistent stutters and screen tearing even at 1080p resolution on the lowest graphical settings. These users strongly recommend against purchasing the game until these critical performance issues are addressed by the developers.
Developer Response and Mixed Reception
In response to the feedback, developer Gearbox has provided resources such as optimization guides for NVIDIA graphics cards and a general PC troubleshooting guide. It`s worth noting that despite the influx of negative comments, a substantial number of positive reviews have also been posted, resulting in Borderlands 4 currently holding a “mixed” overall review rating on Steam.
Release Details and Critical Reception
Earlier this week, the official PC specifications for Borderlands 4, including both minimum requirements and recommended settings, were re-shared. Independent critical assessments have varied; one review, for instance, awarded the PC version a 7/10, describing it as “the most mechanically sound Borderlands game to date.” Borderlands 4 is currently available across Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC platforms. Nintendo Switch 2 owners, however, will need to wait until October 3 for its release.