Borderlands 4 day one patch has “key improvements and optimizations,” but PC players should have “realistic performance expectations,” says Randy Pitchford

Borderlands 4 is on the cusp of coming out. Leading up to its release, the developers have discussed how it is the most difficult game in the series and how its writing won’t falter to low-hanging cultural jokes. Now, with its launch right around the corner, Gearbox CEO, Randy Pitchford, has told PC players that while the Borderlands 4 day one patch has “key improvements and optimizations,” they should have “realistic performance expectations” based on their hardware.

Borderlands 4 players on PC should have “realistic performance expectations,” says Randy Pitchford

Recently, Destructoid’s Scott Duwe published a very insightful final preview of Borderlands 4. Posting about it on X, Scott Duwe remarked that the game is “absolutely awesome. But it is also in desperate need of a day one optimization patch on PC [because of] Crashing, hitching, stuttering, freezing galore”.

Gearbox CEO, Randy Pitchford, responded to Scott Duwe’s comments about performance, saying there is a day one patch and it “does a lot”. While the day one patch will improve performance woes, Pitchford said that “It’s a big, bold, new, seamless world and I’m sorry to say that older hardware may not provide buttery smooth performance for the latest gen AAA games, as has always been the case since the dawn of PC gaming”.

The Day 1 patch does a lot! That said, the expectation for using a below min-spec machine should be that the game is unplayable. That the game runs at all on your system is a miracle. That you can get 55 – 60 fps out of heavy combat is actually incredible given how the engine and…

— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) September 6, 2025

In an update to their article, Scott Duwe added that 2K PR clarified that his PC “falls below the recommended specs but does meet minimum specs”. Pitchford also provided more comments regarding performance.

Pitchford added in another post on X that “2K QA reports indicate that they are able to achieve 60fps average with minimum spec PC on typically medium settings,” however, “Different PC configurations will vary” and “HDD vs SDD is also a factor for the hitching”.

The CEO also added that while the “Day 1 patch has some key improvements and optimizations,” Pitchford wants “everyone to have realistic expectations for performance [because] This is a big, open AAA game and lower end and older hardware may not perform as well as higher end, modern PC’s”.

FWIW – I may be conflating "recommended" specs with "required" specs. 2k QA collaborating with our engineering team at Gearbox sets the standard and 2k QA reports indicate that they are able to achieve 60fps average with minimum spec PC on typically medium settings. Different PC…

— Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) September 6, 2025

Below are the minimum and recommended system requirements listed on Steam:

Minimum:

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 / Windows 11
• Processor: Intel Core i7-9700 / AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 / AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT / Intel Arc A580
• Storage: 100 GB available space
• Additional Notes: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system. Requires 8 CPU Cores for processor. Requires 8 GB VRAM for graphics. SSD storage required

Recommended:

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 / Windows 11
• Processor: Intel Core i7-12700 / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
• Memory: 32 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT / Intel Arc B580
• Storage: 100 GB available space
• Additional Notes: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system. SSD storage required

In other PC gaming news, Arrowhead are committed to fixing the performance and poor optimization of Helldivers 2.