Gearbox introduced Borderlands 4 as its big return with louder ambitions, new classes, and a heavier story built on the series’ trademark chaos.
Not long after launch, the focus turned from fresh ideas to frustrating performance problems.
Many PC users ran into stutter, broken shaders, and crashes even with top-tier hardware.
Borderlands 4 ended up being remembered less for its story and characters and more as another big-budget release that stumbled at launch.
Why Did Pitchford’s Defense Backfire So Badly?
The situation worsened less because of the glitches and more because of how leadership handled them.
The company’s CEO, Randy Pitchford, involved himself in the chaos instead of easing concerns.
He sidestepped the complaints by branding frustrated players as “4K stubborn” and telling them to lower their resolution to 1440p.
At one point, he even compared trying to run the game on lower-spec machines to powering a monster truck with a leaf blower’s motor.
He shot back that critics should make their own engine. His words redirected the conversation from the game to his conduct.
Pitchford also tried to downplay the scope of the problem, pointing to customer support data that showed fewer than one percent of players had submitted “valid” performance complaints.
What Did Gearbox Admit in the End?
Gearbox changed course and issued an official statement to players just under a week after release.
This time, it was handled with clarity and professionalism. They admitted PC performance was unstable, confirmed consoles had issues as well, and promised updates were coming.
One patch went out over the weekend, another is coming Thursday, and more are in progress for the following weeks.
They promised a Field of View slider for consoles to answer one of the most requested features.
As a gesture of thanks, the studio dropped a complimentary Break Free Pack into the game.
This was the first time Gearbox acknowledged the scale of the problems, in contrast to Pitchford’s response.
Developers were listening and putting effort into making Borderlands 4 run well. But for many fans, the damage to trust had already been done.
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