Borderlands 4 launched to a decent critical reception but a mixed response from the broader fan community. Claiming widespread performance issues from bugs to poor frame rates, many players have given the game strongly negative reviews on Steam and have filled forums with complaints. While developer Gearbox has stated that it is looking into some of the issues, CEO Randy Pitchford has taken to X to challenge assertions that Borderlands 4 is, in some way, broken.
Pitchford has published a series of posts that that claim that players have unrealistic expectations for frame rates. Specifically taking issue with players who want to run Borderlands 4 at 4K resolution on different types of hardware, Pitchford discounted those who he called “4K stubborn” and encouraged people to try the game at 1440p.
“I know a lot of you are dead set on playing at 4k with ultra max settings and using two or three year old hardware,” he wrote. “You do you, but BL4 and UE5 are doing a lot and for me that trade off for frames isn’t worth it. I play at 1440p with settings super high and am super happy with that trade off–the game looks amazing at 1440p. If you’re not 4k stubborn and just want to have a great, fun time with higher perf, please consider running at 1440p resolution. If you’ve got a beast of a video card, you’re probably fine at 4k. But if you’re in the middle or close to min spec, I would definitely recommend making that trade.”
Pitchford also wrote about how he believes players to have unrealistic hopes for performance from older PC hardware; he characterized many complaints as originating from people who are attempting to run the game on several-year-old PC builds. In response to a comment from a person suggesting Gearbox “build [Borderlands 4] for the most common hardware in the first place,” for instance, Pitchford wrote that “Borderlands 4 is a premium game made for premium gamers.”
“Unlike on PlayStation and Xbox, we cannot prevent a PC player with sub-optimal hardware for the game try to play it,” he stated. “So some try and get mad. And some have actual issues we need to fix. And some need to learn how their PCs work at the high end for this specific game in 2025 and use the tools available to them to find the right balance between frame rate, resolution, and graphics features… If you’re trying to drive a monster truck with a leaf blower’s motor, you’re going to be disappointed.”
Alongside expressions of irritation and resistance to the complaints, Pitchford also shared recommendations for “optimizing” performance on PC, including suggestions for using DLSS and tweaking certain settings. Gearbox itself published a PC trouble-shooting guide on Steam to help players navigate potential issues or bugs.
Anecdotally, it appears that performance issues may occur inconsistently, vary across even minor changes in hardware, or generally be difficult to nail down. PC Gamer and Digital Foundry, for instance, have reported sluggish frame rates on native resolutions even on top-of-the-line graphics cards. Benchmarks have, not surprisingly, shown wide variance across hardware and software combinations.
If you’re just diving into Borderlands 4, check out our ongoing list of Shift codes that you can redeem to grab some cosmetics and items for your character. In addition, take a look at our Borderlands 4 class tier list to decide which one’s best for you.
