Borderlands 4’s CEO, Randy Pitchford, responded to player criticism over the game’s PC version performance, claiming that it runs optimally despite conflicting reviews. Read on to find out more about the CEO’s remarks and fan backlash.
Borderlands 4 CEO Defends PC Version Optimization
Responding to Performance Backlash
Borderlands 4 CEO, Randy Pitchford, responded to player criticism over the game’s PC version. Though breaking franchise records, the entry was met with mixed reviews from fans who reported that it is marred by performance and optimization issues. Pitchford justified that the game is already optimal for a looter shooter campaign, a position that several fans disagreed with.
"We have made an amazing and fun and huge looter shooter campaign game. The game is pretty d*mn optimal - which means that the software is doing what we want without wasteful cycles on bad processes," posted Pitchford on Twitter (X).
The CEO explained that PC gamers have a lot of tools in their arsenal "to balance their preferences between [framerates-per-second (FPS)], resolution, and rendering features" and implored that they tune these preferences if they aren’t happy with them. Pitchford elaborated that, while they are working on improving PC performance, he advised players not to wait and start making trade-offs to their game or PC settings.
Negative reviews of the game gave anecdotes claiming that it struggled and crashed even in high-end rigs such as ones that have the RTX 4060 or 5060 with 32 GB of RAM (or higher). For comparison, Borderlands 4 developer Gearbox released PC system requirements that recommended an RTX 3080 (or equivalent) with 32 GB of RAM, an Intel Core i7-12700 processor, and 100 GB of space to play the game at "the intended experience".
The developer’s claim that the game should be running at 60 FPS with 1440p and Medium Preset settings seemed to conflict with some of the players’ testimonies, criticizing the mismatched expectations set by Gearbox. Even a few positive reviews on Steam at launch recommended that others wait for the promised 'day one patch' that released over the weekend.
A community note under one of Pitchford’s posts expressed that, "The publisher of a game is responsible of providing accurate recommend and minimal specs since the consumers has absolutely no way to check how the game is going to run in the hardware before release."
Missing FOV Slider on Consoles
While optimization updates for the PC version are rolling out, the console versions of Borderlands 4, on the other hand, seem to be missing a few options present in the PC version, such as the field of view (FOV) slider and an option for turning off motion blur.
Pitchford started a poll on Twitter, asking console players if they would like to see an FOV slider added to these versions. The final results of the poll yielded a 72.7% in favor of the "FOV slider or GTFO!" option. Most players under the post expressed getting motion sickness without the option to adjust FOV.
"I gotta be honest. I’m getting a headache playing the intro sections and have to stop. A FOV slider would work wonders," commented one fan. Another stated, "100% give console a fov slider, I'm on 110 FOV on PC and sometimes still get motion sick".
The CEO cryptically commented that the implementation of the FOV setting "might affect fairness", which fans seem to be confused about.
Potential Bugs Affecting Damage Calculation
Beyond addressing hardware-specific issues and graphical settings, players reported potential bugs affecting gameplay in Borderlands 4. According to one showcase by a player on Twitter, the playable character Vex was shown inflicting the status effect called Bleed (which deals chip damage over time) to a boss, Core Observer, killing it in an abnormally short matter of seconds. The existence of this bug would invalidate Vex’s other skill trees or even other playable characters as it is too powerful, shared the player.
Creative director Graeme Timmins responded to the post, confirming that the bug looks similar to one that they fixed with playable characters Harlowe and Rafa before the game’s launch.
Timmins promised that they won’t make any "knee-jerk" reactions by simply nerfing Vex and stated that he will be investigating the problem.
Borderlands 4 is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. To stay updated with the latest information about the game, check out our article below!
Sources:
PC Specs & Features | Borderlands 4
Pitchford on X: "Every PC gamer must accept the reality of the relationship between their hardware and what the software they are running is doing."
Was really looking forward to this one. Huge Borderlands fan. Unfortunately for me, it is almost unplayable. | Borderlands 4 Steam Review
"Chill guys, we're not going to knee jerk react to anything. That said, this looks like a bug we fixed with Harlow and Rafa…" / X
