Borderlands 4 May Offer Refunds to Those Who Can’t Play It
Borderlands 4 has been plagued by performance issues, particularly on PC, since its release. Players with mid-range systems are reporting difficulties balancing frame rate, resolution, and graphical quality. Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford has been clear on this matter, stating that the game was designed entirely for next-generation hardware.
Borderlands 4 Hardware and Refund Controversies
Pitchford stated in a statement that Borderlands 4 was developed using the power of Unreal Engine 5 and is completely incompatible with older-generation consoles. He specifically noted that the game is impossible to run on PlayStation 4 and similar systems. On PC, he reminded players to make appropriate hardware adjustments. Among the suggestions were disabling features like ray tracing or lowering the resolution to 1440p instead of 4K.
The CEO introduced a refund option for players unable to run the game. He directly directed users, saying, “If your system isn’t running the game well enough, or you don’t want to mess with the settings, use Steam’s refund feature. We don’t want you to have a bad experience.” This approach was interpreted as a significant step to prevent players from experiencing any inconvenience.
Pitchford also occasionally reacted harshly to criticisms about performance. When a player criticized the graphics optimization, he replied with a humorous yet sarcastic tone, “Then write your own engine.” He added that Gearbox continues to monitor in-game data to work on performance improvements and will provide regular updates.
Borderlands 4 launched on September 12, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The Nintendo Switch 2 version was announced for release on October 3. However, refund disputes and hardware issues continue to plague the game’s release.
