Less than two weeks after Gearbox-developed Borderlands 4 hit physical and digital retailers, studio Gearbox Software announced that a cumulative 2.5 million gamers have played the action RPG. The long-awaited fourth entry in the Borderlands franchise first dropped 10 days ago on September 12, and according to new findings from Alinea Analytics via GI.biz, the game has already earned more than $150 million. In their report, Alinea Analytics broke down Borderlands 4 player data based on gamers’ locations as well as their self-reported interest. Additionally, the firm compares Steam user data with PlayStation figures.
Steam vs. PlayStation
Alinea Analytics says that, while the IP’s latest title has sold more than 1 million console units, purchases made on digital game distributor Steam account for another 1.3 million. Steam data aggregator SteamDB shows that the number of active Borderlands 4 players peaked on the platform on Sunday, September 14, with more than 300,000 gamers signed into the game. All in all, Steam purchases comprise more than $80 million of the title’s total revenue.
At the time of writing, nearly 150,000 Steam users are playing Borderlands 4.
Player Demographics
More than half of all Borderlands 4 players are based in the United States, while players in China comprise the country with the second-most Borderlands 4 players. Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada follow. “By comparison,” GI.biz explains, “the US accounts for over half of players on PlayStation, followed by 5% to 8% player shares from the UK, Germany, France, and Canada.”
Alinea also explored players’ experience with older Borderlands entries. According to their findings, around 3 in 5 Steam players (59%) played Borderlands 2, 51% tried their hand at Borderlands 3, and 22% played the 2022 spin-off, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands.
Whereas on PlayStation, where PS Plus inclusions influenced player choice, 81% played Borderlands 3, with 64% having played Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, and 50% played Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands.
Playability Problems
Alinea Analytics also took into consideration the game’s post-launch performance issues. Since the game’s September 12 ship date, vocal fans’ gripes and grumbles have virtually overshadowed any Borderlands 4 praise. Gamers’ playability woes were only accelerated by Gearbox Software CEO and figurehead Randy Pitchford’s social media posts from last week.
In his posts, Pitchford signals that players’ hardware is to blame for any playability problems. “Every PC gamer must accept the reality of the relationship between their hardware and what the software they are running is doing,” he said in a September 14 upload. In true X fashion, users contextualized and countered Pitchford’s post with a Community Note, the platform’s way for users to collaboratively issue corrections to misleading or untruthful posts. “The publisher of a game is responsible of providing accurate recommend and minimal specs since the consumers has absolutely no way to check how the game is going to run in the hardware before release,” the Note reads before linking to Borderlands 4‘s official PC Specs & Features page.
His latest rig-related posts aren’t the only headline-worthy statements from Pitchford in recent months. Earlier this summer, the outspoken CEO responded to affordability concerns amid the Trump administration’s tech tariffs and AAA companies’ price hikes. In late May, Pitchford shared a post from Nintendo heralding Borderlands 4‘s Switch 2 playability. In response, a user raised questions about a tentative retail price. “Randy, this game better not be 80 dollars. Don’t take that risk, alot of gamers aren’t gonna pay 80 dollars and feed this notion of constant increase of the price tag,” the user said before adding, “You are the CEO, you have some say with the price when it comes to your publisher [sic]”
Pitchford replied, “A) Not my call. B) If you’re a real fan, you’ll find a way to make it happen. My local game store had Starflight for Sega Genesis for $80 in 1991 when I was just out of high school working minimum wage at an ice cream parlor in Pismo Beach and I found a way to make it happen.” He walked back his statement just two weeks later.
Despite eye-popping sales figures, the game’s Steam reviews remain “Mixed.”
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