Gearbox has released a new Borderlands 4 update aimed at fixing chaotic PC performance, crashes and stuttering that sank user reviews, following a weekend patch that made little difference and high-profile comments from the studio’s CEO, promising stability improvements and a console FOV slider.
PC players reported stuttering, crashes and long shader compile times that forced community fixes such as upping shader cache sizes. Many negative Steam reviews single out performance as the main grievance, contributing to the game’s Mixed rating.
A Gearbox statement on X acknowledges the issues and says updates to improve stability and performance began over the weekend with another patch arriving. Updates are listed as the studio’s top priority and a console field-of-view slider is noted as coming soon.
— Borderlands (@Borderlands) September 17, 2025
Players reported jury-rigging workarounds, including dramatically increasing shader cache sizes to reduce stutters. That kind of tinkering underlines how rough the launch felt for many PC setups. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford’s online posts drew criticism after encouraging server stress tests and suggesting poor performance stemmed from low-spec hardware. Those remarks coincided with falling user scores and amplified backlash across social channels.
Patch notes highlight stability fixes and a loot tweak while reminding PC users that shaders will recompile after any graphics change and gameplay should be checked after roughly 15 minutes. Official update notes on the Borderlands site list crash fixes tied to animation states, audio, collision checks and various GPU-related issues.
Patch Notes
Stability
- Addressed crashes tied to animation states, audio, and collision checks
- Addressed various GPU-related crashes
Gameplay & Progression
- Resolved an issue where the Reward Center could stop working after claiming the Gilded Glory Pack rewards
- Addressed a progression blocker in the mission “Talk to Zadra,” where the objective could fail if players exited and relaunched mid-dialogue
- Corrected “Doesn’t own DLC” warnings incorrectly showing up on non-DLC gear
Loot & Items
- Updated loot pools so Gilded Glory Pack guns no longer appear in standard chests
One more note for PC players: “Any time you change any of your graphics settings, your shaders will need to recompile. Please keep playing for at least 15 minutes to see how your PC’s performance has changed.”
Readers are invited to discuss in the comments and follow on X and Bluesky.
