Borderlands 4 Launch Marred by Performance Issues Despite UE5 Upgrade
Gearbox‘s Borderlands 4, a co-op loot shooter releasing on September 12, 2025 for PS5, PC, adn Xbox Series X/S, represents the most significant technological leap in the series’ history with its transition to Unreal Engine 5.The developers are utilizing advanced features including Lumen for global illumination, Nanite for detailed geometry, and virtual shadow maps for enhanced shadow quality.
However, despite this technical foundation, the console versions of the game are experiencing substantial optimization problems impacting gameplay. A recent analysis by Digital Foundry details these issues.
The primary concern across all consoles (PS5, PS5 Pro, and Xbox Series X) is a declining frame rate during extended play sessions when targeting 60FPS. While initially stable,performance noticeably degrades after 30-60 minutes,fluctuating between 45-55FPS. After several hours, frame rates can fall to 30-40FPS, even in less demanding environments. Gearbox has acknowledged the issue, and a temporary workaround involves restarting the game to restore performance, suggesting a potential memory leak.
Digital Foundry found the 30FPS quality mode to be a more stable choice, though less fluid. This mode appears to mitigate CPU bottlenecks and deliver more consistent performance. It also offers improved graphical fidelity, including more accurate Lumen lighting, stable reflections with reduced flickering, increased grass visibility, and more realistic cloud shading. Resolution in both modes is dynamic,generally ranging from 720p to 1080p.
The PS5 Pro exhibits “stealth upgrades” not officially announced, such as a 4K HUD and menus (compared to 1080p on the standard PS5 and xbox Series X), higher overall gameplay resolution, and improved texture filtering. However,the PS5 Pro is still susceptible to the same performance degradation in 60FPS mode. The Xbox series S is limited to a 30FPS experience, which Digital Foundry reports is surprisingly stable, albeit with visual compromises including a lower resolution (frequently enough 720p), reduced Lumen effect accuracy, and lower texture quality.
Borderlands 4 demonstrates the potential of Unreal Engine 5, but its console launch is hampered by significant performance issues. The need to regularly restart the game to maintain a playable frame rate is a considerable drawback. Digital Foundry believes the game holds promise, but the 60FPS mode remains a frustrating experience until a patch addresses these problems, marking it as another large UE5 title facing initial challenges on consoles.
