Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick made striking statements about the sales of Borderlands 4, the latest installment of the popular shooter series. Despite a strong opening weekend, Zelnick stated that commercial success was “softer” than the company had hoped for (lower than expected). He cited the game’s buggy and weak PC version as the primary reason.
Why did Borderlands 4’s sales fall short of expectations?
Zelnick’s statement came shortly after the announcement of Grand Theft Auto VI’s delay. The CEO expressed satisfaction with the game, which received “excellent” praise from critics, and its release. However, he noted that unit sales were not at the desired level, particularly due to difficulties and performance issues encountered in the Steam version. Zelnick emphasized that Gearbox is working and will continue to work to address these challenges. Therefore, he believes the game will do very well in the long run.
When Borderlands 4 launched, its performance on the PC platform was poor in many ways. Players rightfully complained that the newly purchased AAA game wasn’t running properly on their machines. However, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford countered these complaints on X (formerly Twitter), sparking a debate. Pitchford even described the PC version, which faced intense backlash, as “fairly optimal” at the time.
Thankfully, as Zelnick noted, Gearbox has begun working to address the issues. A patch released two weeks ago improved PC performance, in particular, by double-digit percentages. Furthermore, the company remains confident that Borderlands 4 will be even more successful in the future thanks to the improvements it has implemented.
While the game’s commercial success fell short of expectations, its initial launch figures were quite strong. Borderlands 4 had the biggest launch of the series on PC, with over 100,000 concurrent players, and reached over 300,000 in its opening weekend. It managed to sell 2 million units in its first week. Furthermore, it topped US sales charts in September 2025, becoming one of the best-selling games of the year.
So, what are your thoughts on Borderlands 4’s PC performance? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
