In what feels like déjà vu from the gaming industry’s “thanks for your loyalty, sucker” playbook, Borderlands 4 has already dropped to 20% off on Steam (until Oct 20th)— down from $69.99 to $55.99 — just one month after launch. If you bought it at full price, this sale feels less like a celebration and more like Gearbox gently slapping the controller out of your hand while whispering, “You should’ve waited.” For other patient gamers, it may be the right time to drop a few bucks.
Released on September 11, the fourth mainline Borderlands entry earned praise for doing the one thing fans begged for since 3: actually improving the damn formula. The gunplay? Tighter. The builds? Deeper. The story? More focused. For about five minutes, everything looked peachy in Pandora.
Then PC players logged in.
Since launch, Borderlands 4’s PC version has been about as stable as Claptrap on roller skates. Players have flooded forums complaining about stuttering, random frame drops, and graphics settings that seem allergic to optimization. The game runs—just not necessarily well, especially on rigs that cost more than a small car.
And when a $70 title launches in that state, a quick sale starts to look a lot like damage control in discount form.
User Bing’s review currently sits atop the Borderlands 4 review page on Steam like a digital protest sign:
“I wanted to be patient about this review, while I had a lot of reasons to make a negative review. But then Randy spoke on Twitter.
I can in no good conscious recommend this game.
I won’t lie, this is definitely better than BL3 (gameplay-wise) and might be (story-wise), I can’t confirm, as I can’t really enjoy the game with this horrendous performance.
Do not buy this game at full price.
Do not encourage such behavior from AAA studios.
Under no circumstance, a game with this price tag, from a developer like this, should be this bad on launch, there’s no excuse whatsoever.
What makes it worse, is the clown that keeps talking on Twitter, only making the situation worse.
My advice to you:
Wait till performance is fixed and till it goes on sale. Teach them a lesson!”
So yeah — the man said “wait till it goes on sale,” and one month later, the universe obliged. Somewhere out there, Bing is probably doing the smug gamer equivalent of a slow clap.
For early adopters, this discount stings. You paid full price to fight bugs, crashes, and GPU meltdowns, and now new players are waltzing in for 20% less and (hopefully) better patches. It’s like paying for VIP access to a concert only to realize general admission got free snacks and working air conditioning.
But for anyone still on the fence, this sale is a blessing. You can now jump in for $55.99, watch the chaos from a safe financial distance, and maybe even run the game at more than 30 FPS if the latest patch gods smile upon you.
Borderlands 4 is still the looter-shooter you want — fun, frantic, and packed with absurd guns that shoot other guns. But its launch was messy enough to make this month-one discount feel more like a confession than a promotion.
If you already bought it? Ouch. If you didn’t? Congratulations — your patience just saved you fifteen bucks and a few rage-induced restarts.
