Performance Concerns and Player Feedback
In a recent discussion surrounding the performance of Borderlands 4 on PC, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford expressed his belief that the complaints circulating online have been exaggerated. According to Pitchford, only a minuscule percentage of the game’s player base has reached out to Gearbox’s customer service regarding performance issues. He estimates that merely 1% of players, based on installation numbers, have submitted reports to customer support.
Pitchford remarked, “I would wager that only a small fraction of Borderlands 4 players have used Gearbox customer support at all.” He further elaborated that the actual number of customers reporting valid performance issues is less than 0.01%, a figure that he believes is skewed by the nature of online discourse. He noted, “This reality is dramatically different than what you would expect if your only sources of information were, say, certain internet threads.”
In an effort to address concerns from the gaming community, Pitchford encouraged PC gamers to adjust their expectations and consider tweaking their settings. He shared his personal experience of assisting players in improving their frame rates from 30FPS to 90FPS, highlighting the potential benefits of optimizing game settings and updating drivers.
Despite Pitchford’s assertions, the game’s reception on platforms like Steam tells a different story. With over 22,200 reviews, approximately 7,770 of those are negative, many citing performance-related issues. Additionally, testing conducted by PC Gamer revealed that players have encountered stutters and unsatisfactory frame rates across various hardware configurations.
While some players, including myself, have not faced significant issues on high-end setups, there are still notable concerns. For instance, I experienced a game-breaking bug that necessitated a restart, and found that disabling volumetric fog improved both the appearance and performance of the game. Furthermore, the reliance on DLSS has been a point of frustration for many.
Although Borderlands 4 is not deemed unplayable, its performance lags behind that of several modern titles that are visually comparable. This discrepancy has fueled the ongoing discussions within the gaming community. Pitchford’s statement, “Everyone who has real issues is someone we care about – we want to help everyone because we want everyone to enjoy the game!” may not fully assuage the concerns of those experiencing difficulties.
In response to the feedback, Gearbox has taken steps to assist players by releasing an “optimization guide” and suggesting performance-boosting tips, including enabling DLSS performance with frame generation. As the conversation continues, it remains to be seen how these measures will impact player satisfaction and overall game performance.
