After long last, Borderlands 4 is finally out in the world on console and PC.
However, with a myriad of performance issues causing some players to be unable to play at all, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford is here to help.
Or is he?
Released on 12 September on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, Borderlands 4 is the next instalment in the much-loved Gearbox Software first-person looter shooter series and one that has been highly anticipated.
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However, with many players, especially those on PC reporting game-breaking performance issues, Borderlands 4 currently sits at a ‘mixed’ rating on Steam and just a 4.6 user score on Metacritic.
In this case, many developers would be feeling the pressure to quickly work on ways to improve performance so that players can experience a game to its full potential.
Well, that is not the case for Pitchford who has suggested that Borderlands 4 players running into performance issues should “play a different game” if they are not happy.
It is worth noting that Gearbox has since released a stability patch since the game’s launch but players are still reporting multiple performance issues.
On 14 September, in response to one player who told Pitchford that it had taken them “days to get your game in a state I could tolerate playing it,” the Gearbox CEO said the following:
“You can do whatever you want. The game is the game. Please get a refund from Steam if you aren’t happy with it. You made an analogy to a vehicle. I would not put a Ferrari engine in a monster truck and expect it to drive like a Ferrari.”
Whatever that may mean.
The CEO also went on to say that “every PC gamer must accept the reality of the relationship between their hardware and what the software they are running is doing” so it is safe to say that Pitchford is blaming players for Borderlands 4’s performance rather than the game’s poor optimisation.
“If you tell me about your specification, I can help you optimize your performance,” he continued.
“I’m sorry you don’t like being told to use DLSS, but that is the way.
If you’re not happy using the tools available to you to improve frame rate, and you’re not happy with the frame rate you have, you should play a different game.”
With Pitchford telling unhappy players to get a refund, it is not as easy as it sounds over on Steam.
To qualify for a Steam refund, players must have less than two hours of playtime and must have bought the game within the past two weeks.
However, according to Steam’s refund policy, “even if you fall outside of the refund rules we’ve described, you can ask for a refund anyway and we’ll take a look” and PCs not meeting hardware requirements is just one reason why the site acknowledges a potential refund.
So, if you have run into multiple issues with Borderlands 4 and want to take Pitchford up on his offer for a refund, make sure you head over to Steam support to see if you are eligible.
Topics: Borderlands, Steam, PC