Borderlands 4 Launches, Elevates Looter-Shooter Experience with New Features

AUSTIN, Texas — Borderlands 4 was released on September 12, 2025, introducing players to the expansive planet of Kairos. This title marks a significant departure from previous installments, featuring true open-world gameplay and new exploration tools including grappling hooks and gliders.

Developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games, Borderlands 4 incorporates diverse regions and gameplay improvements, such as enhanced movement options, which include double jumps and swimming. Players engage in tighter, more responsive combat while encountering new and returning Vault Hunters.

“We’ve given everything we’ve got to make it the biggest and best game we have ever created,” said Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford. The game blends humor with its trademark over-the-top weapons, keeping the spirit of Borderlands alive.

Graphics have significantly improved, thanks to the use of Unreal Engine 5. The game exhibits enhanced textures, lighting, and geometry, making it the best-looking title in the franchise to date. However, some players have noted that cutscenes maintained a frame rate of 30 FPS, leading to a stuttery experience.

Accessibility options have also been upgraded, allowing players to adjust difficulty settings and modify controls to their preference. While the breadth of options isn’t as extensive as seen in other AAA titles, they offer sufficient variety for most players.

Borderlands 4 continues to support NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS for upscaling, accommodating various hardware configurations. Random elements such as shader stutter were less of an issue than expected, despite some initial reports of frame drops in large environments.

While the game demands high-end hardware—requiring at least an RTX 4070 Ti for optimal performance—players can tweak visual settings to achieve better frame rates. The focus on co-op gameplay has been expanded with new systems that streamline party formations and loot sharing.

With a price tag of $70, some players find the cost steep despite the promise of over 40 hours of gameplay.