Borderlands 4 PC Performance Fails Expectations: Tech Experts Advise Against Badass Setting

Technology specialists are reporting that Borderlands 4 on PC is plagued by severe stuttering issues, particularly when played on its highest graphics setting, termed ‘Badass’.

Although Borderlands 4 had a strong debut on Steam, it currently holds a ‘mixed’ rating from user reviews, largely attributing to performance issues on PC. This is surprising especially for those using advanced gaming systems, who have found the game’s graphics performance underwhelming.

Randy Pitchford, the head of development at Gearbox, has been active on social media addressing these criticisms and interacting with dissatisfied gamers.

Digital Foundry, a group of tech analysts, has examined Borderlands 4 on PC and noted significant stuttering issues, a problem that has been associated with Unreal Engine games in recent discussions.

Digital Foundry’s Alex Battaglia explained that shader compilation stutter — occurring as the game loads and compiles shaders — can lead to stuttering when encountering new elements in the game, such as a novel weapon pickup or a unique enemy death animation.

Complaints about stuttering in games developed with Unreal Engine have persisted, with Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney (the developer behind Fortnite and Unreal Engine) suggesting last month that the fault lies in the developers’ approach to using Unreal Engine 5.

Battaglia remarked that these issues detract from the polish of Borderlands 4, making the gameplay experience feel less smooth.

He also noted peculiarities in how the game animates vegetation, which visibly changes as the player approaches, creating a somewhat jarring visual effect that resembles traditional ‘pop-in’ but is actually the animation activating.

Additionally, real-time cutscenes in the game are capped at 30fps, which can feel particularly jarring as it drops from a higher frame rate during gameplay, an odd choice for a first-person title.

Rich Leadbetter of Digital Foundry pointed out that even the most advanced gaming CPUs are experiencing stutter, indicating a significant performance issue.

Battaglia has specifically advised against using the ‘Badass’ graphics preset, suggesting it offers no real benefit over the ‘Very High’ setting and is notably inefficient.

John Linneman from Digital Foundry added that the game’s performance seems subpar compared to other games built with Unreal Engine 5.

A recent PC update for Borderlands 4, which was released without patch notes, has apparently not resolved these issues. Gearbox has committed to continuing updates, with PC players hoping for significant improvements soon.

Gearbox has also released a guide on Steam for optimizing Borderlands 4 with Nvidia, aimed at enhancing performance and frame rates. They’ve cautioned players to allow some time for changes to take effect post-adjustment, recommending at least 15 minutes of gameplay to judge the new performance level.

For those diving into Borderlands 4, updated SHiFT codes are available hourly. There’s also a comprehensive interactive map and a detailed game planner tool available from Maxroll. Additionally, there are recommendations on character selection from expert players, though opinions vary widely.