Randy Pitchford's Borderlands 4 PC Performance Tips Fall Flat with Players

Borderlands 4 PC Launch Marred by Performance Woes

The highly anticipated release of Borderlands 4 has been met with significant disappointment from PC players due to widespread performance issues. Despite many pre-launch concerns about optimization, the game’s rocky performance has become a central point of criticism, overshadowing the excitement for the latest installment in the popular looter-shooter series.

In an attempt to assist struggling players, Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford offered a simple solution: enabling DLSS and Frame Generation. Pitchford highlighted an example where content creator MoxsyOG reportedly boosted their frame rate from 90 to 160 FPS using these settings. However, this advice was not well-received by the community, sparking a wave of mixed reactions.

Player Frustration Mounts Over Optimization Advice

Players quickly pointed out the limitations of Pitchford’s suggestions. DLSS and Frame Generation technologies are only compatible with specific, newer graphics cards (primarily NVIDIA's RTX 40 series for Frame Generation). Furthermore, while Frame Generation can create a smoother *sensation* of gameplay, it doesn't represent a true increase in raw performance, and it can introduce visual artifacts for some users, especially in fast-paced games like Borderlands 4.

• One player, FellowNick, commented: “Using frame generation… For that, you need a 40 series card, and I have a 3080. It’s bad when you have to resort to frame generation to 'optimize' a game that should have been properly optimized from the start. Not cool, bro.”

• Another user, ImmersiveSins, echoed the sentiment: “Or, you know, just properly optimize your game for the engine you’re working on. The PC gaming market is growing faster than ever, and it wouldn’t hurt you to learn how to develop for it…”

• Ms5000Watts added a personal experience: “Unfortunately, I don’t like how frame generation looks in BL4 — because of the blur and artifacts when turning the camera, I quickly start to feel dizzy. Perhaps it’s just a characteristic of games where you have to move the camera a lot — the technology’s flaws become more noticeable.”

• MikeyJayRaymond directly addressed Pitchford: “Randy, I’m saying this with the best intentions. You are clearly out of touch with what gamers actually want. You also don't seem to understand that this behavior is unacceptable. Just promise to optimize the game. Frame generation should not be the solution in any way.”

The developer also released an “optimization guide” on Steam, created in collaboration with NVIDIA. While it provides recommended settings for various graphics cards and target frame rates, even this guide disappointed many. For instance, owners of an RTX 2070 are advised to settle for 30 frames per second on low settings with DLSS enabled. This recommendation falls far short of the high standards PC gamers have come to expect, and the guide's comment section is similarly filled with complaints about optimization.

Borderlands 4 is currently available on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. A Nintendo Switch 2 release is slated for October 3rd, raising further concerns about potential performance challenges on the less powerful console. The ongoing performance issues have left a significant portion of the PC player base feeling let down, hoping for more comprehensive optimization patches in the near future rather than workarounds.