Borderlands 4, the latest entry in Gearbox Software’s long-running looter shooter series, has come under scrutiny from players on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S after widespread reports of severe performance issues. While critics initially gave the game favorable reviews, community feedback paints a different picture of its current technical state, especially during prolonged sessions or in endgame scenarios.
On Reddit, several players described extreme frame rate drops that reduce gameplay to what one user called a “slideshow experience,” with performance falling as low as one frame per second. Many users believe the issue stems from a memory leak, with problems worsening the longer the game is played—typically after one to four hours of continuous play. Others pointed to a bug involving the Harlowe character’s “Runaway Reaction” perk combined with the “Demon Core” augment, which creates infinite status effects and ultimately cripples performance.
Players have discovered temporary workarounds, such as saving and quitting back to the main menu or restarting the application entirely, which resets performance. For Harlowe players, removing or respecing away from the problematic skill combination appears to reduce the issue, though this remains an unsatisfactory fix for those who invested heavily in that character build.
The situation has led to frustration across the community. Some players expressed disappointment that a major release would require such frequent restarts to function properly, while others criticized Gearbox for not addressing these issues before launch. “Min specs should be playable at 30,” one player remarked, suggesting that recommended specifications and console optimization fail to deliver what was promised. Sarcastic commentary also surfaced online, with users joking about “seconds per frame” instead of frames per second and mocking Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford’s earlier remarks about the game being built for “premium hardware.”
A similar conversation has unfolded on Xbox, where a widely circulated video highlighted performance collapses during high-level encounters, particularly after defeating the Vile Lictor boss. Content creator Moxsy suggested that respeccing out of the Demon Core skill and then back into it offered a temporary remedy, a finding echoed by other users. Even so, many noted that problems persisted, prompting skepticism about the extent of internal testing prior to release.
Community responses have ranged from defending the game’s performance on certain setups to outright abandoning the console versions in favor of PC. Some even questioned the viability of the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 release, given the struggles seen on more powerful hardware. Across both platforms, the recurring sentiment is that Borderlands 4’s optimization remains inconsistent, with serious issues undermining the otherwise positive reception of its gameplay and design.
Borderlands 4, developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K, launched on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on September 12, 2025. A Nintendo Switch 2 release is scheduled for October 3, 2025.
