Borderlands 4 just launched, but performance issues have some players frustrated. Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford says players should stop being “4K stubborn” and enjoy the game at 1440p for smoother performance.
Borderlands 4 officially launched this past week on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC, with the Nintendo Switch 2 version arriving October 3. Built on Unreal Engine 5, it’s one of the most ambitious entries in the series yet, featuring seamless zone traversal, with tons and tons of loot to unlock.
While the core gameplay and world design are getting decent praise, performance on PC, especially, has been rocky. Players across Steam and Reddit have reported stuttering, crashes, and framerate issues, even on relatively modern rigs.
On consoles, things are more stable, but not perfect. Xbox Series S appears to be locked at 1080p/30fps, and while PS5 and Series X offer Performance and Quality modes, it’s clear this Unreal Engine 5-powered sequel is pushing systems hard.
Gearbox has already released a major update aimed at tackling some of these bugs. The patch dropped yesterday and includes fixes to help stabilize framerates, reduce crashes, and smooth out shader compilation hiccups. It’s a step in the right direction, but it won’t solve everything, especially for PC players trying to max everything out at 4K.
Now, Gearbox Software boss Randy Pitchford has entered the chat, and he’s got some blunt advice for players trying to push ultra settings without the rig to match.
Randy Pitchford Says 1440p Is the Sweet Spot for Borderlands 4
In a new post shared on his official X (formerly Twitter) account yesterday, Pitchford weighed in on the ongoing performance chatter. According to him, a lot of players are chasing ultra settings and 4K resolution at the expense of performance, and it’s just not worth it for most setups.
He started by acknowledging how demanding the game can be: “BL4 and UE5 are doing a lot,” he said. But he also pointed out that the tools are there to tweak things for a smoother gameplay experience, and you don’t need a brand new GPU to hit high framerates.
Gearbox, he said, has seen “120fps+ on PC with three and four-year-old hardware” in internal tests, just by adjusting settings. And while everyone’s setup is different, he urged players to experiment with settings rather than rely on a one-size-fits-all approach.
“We had come CS work prove that through settings tweaks only being able to climb up to 120fps + on PC in BL4 with three and four-year-old hardware,” he said. “Your mileage may vary, but please consider using the tools available to you to tune your own balance between FPS, resolution, and graphics features.”
Pitchford also dropped some quick tips to improve performance in Borderlands 4:
- Disable volumetric fog for a solid FPS boost
- Use DLSS if your card supports it, especially at higher resolutions
- Toggle off hardware ray-traced lighting
- If you’re on Windows 10, try enabling hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling in your driver settings, he says it can lead to a 25–50% performance gain in some cases
Pitchford added that if you’re trying to run Borderlands 4 at 4K with every setting maxed out, but you’re doing it on a GPU that’s a few years old, you’re probably not going to have a great time. He explained that Borderlands 4, built on Unreal Engine 5, is extremely demanding, and while some players are determined to max everything out, the performance hit isn’t worth it for most people.
“I know a lot of you are dead set on playing at 4k with ultra max settings and using two or three year old hardware. You do you, but BL4 and UE5 are doing a lot, and for me, that trade-off for frames isn’t worth it. I play at 1440p with settings super high and am super happy with that trade off — the game looks amazing at 1440p.
“If you’re not 4k stubborn and just want to have a great, fun time with higher perf, please consider running at 1440p resolution. If you’ve got a beast of a video card, you’re probably fine at 4k. But if you’re in the middle or close to min spec, I would definitely recommend making that trade.”
Pitchford also mentioned that Gearbox is actively parsing telemetry from players’ systems to improve future auto-settings and that more optimization patches are on the way.
While you’re here, check out our Borderlands 4 hub for the latest news, updates, guides, and tips.
What do you think? Have you stuck with 1440p, or are you “4K stubborn” too? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
