Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has doubled down on recent criticism over Borderlands 4’s performance on PC, claiming that “less than one percent of one percent” of installs have produced customer service tickets for valid performance complaints. The numbers—part of a breakdown he shared on X—also revealed that over half of all CS tickets relate to SHiFT account issues, while only 0.04% are PC performance‐related and just 0.009% flagged as valid.
These claims come amid widespread complaints from players and reviewers of low frame rates, crashes, and instability, even on high-end hardware like an RTX 5090. Despite a 2.7 GB day-one patch meant to address some issues, many users say these fixes haven’t fixed stuttering, texture pop-in, or the game failing to reach basic FPS expectations.
Just this weekend, Pitchford defended the game’s technical demands by calling it “a premium game made for premium gamers,” warning that trying to run it on older or underpowered hardware is “like driving a monster truck with a leaf blower’s motor.” He also encouraged players to try lowering resolution (e.g. 1440p) or reducing certain graphical features.
Still, many in the community are pushing back. Critics note that some rigs meeting or exceeding recommended specs fail to hit 60 FPS even at lowered settings. The Steam review score remains “Mixed” (around 41–49%), with performance issues frequently cited in user reviews.
Gearbox says it’s working on optimization, patches, and supporting tools to help PC players better tune their settings for more stable performance. But for many Borderlands 4 players, Pitchford’s focus on CS ticket stats feels like a way to down-play broader optimization concerns rather than address them.
