Borderlands 4 Sales Dip Due to PC Glitches: Take-Two CEO Optimistic About Recovery

Take-Two Interactive remains optimistic that Borderlands 4 will recover from its initial sales dip in the U.S., which was caused by early technical problems.

According to Zelnick, the initial U.S. sales experienced “a little bit of softness due to technical issues, but we believe that over time, these setbacks will be compensated, and the situation will be favorable,” he explained.

In its earnings report, Take-Two elaborated, stating: “The game garnered extensive critical acclaim, with numerous reviewers declaring it ‘the best Borderlands to date.’ The game’s vibrant community embraced it enthusiastically, and during its debut weekend, it set a new record for the highest number of simultaneous players on Steam within the series. Borderlands 4 also topped YouTube with 30 million views and was the most-watched game on Twitch at launch, highlighting the series’ broad appeal. Despite facing some initial challenges with optimization and performance issues on PC, Gearbox has been actively working on improvements and updates to enhance the gameplay. We are confident that, over its lifetime, Borderlands 4 will see robust sales.”

Upon its release on September 12, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, Borderlands 4 was highly praised by critics, including an 8/10 rating from our review. However, it quickly encountered backlash from fans due to technical glitches that undermined the anticipation built over several months.

PC players faced significant performance issues, with even those using advanced hardware needing to reduce their settings while still struggling to achieve satisfactory frame rates. Gearbox later asked players to endure these problems for about 15 minutes after any graphics adjustments, as they worked on resolving the issues.

On the other hand, PS5 and Xbox users found that the game’s performance deteriorated during extended play sessions. The absence of FOV sliders at launch further exacerbated the situation, with Gearbox promising to resolve these and other issues across all platforms.

Eventually, updates that included FOV sliders and fixes for PC performance issues addressed many of the complaints regarding the game. However, the initial reception of Borderlands 4 was also impacted by Take-Two’s controversial terms of service agreement. Currently, the game has a user score of 4.5/10 on Metacritic, with “Mixed” reviews on Steam.

Despite player dissatisfaction and comments from Zelnick, U.S. video game data company Circana reported that Borderlands 4 was the top-selling premium game of September 2025 and the third highest-selling game of the year based on revenue. This achievement signifies the most successful launch month in terms of revenue in the series’ history.

The most recent update for Borderlands 4 introduced balance adjustments for players on all platforms. Looking ahead, DLC content, including seasonal mini-events and new vault hunters, is planned for post-launch release.

As Take-Two, publisher 2K, and Gearbox work to regain their footing, further insights can be found regarding Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford’s response to those dissatisfied with the game’s launch state, including his suggestion for some players to seek refunds if they remain unhappy with their experience.