The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Borderlands 4 is effectively canceled. Gearbox has issued refunds for all pre-orders of the Switch 2 release just a week before the game was set to launch on Nintendo's platform.
The official word from Gearbox is that the Switch 2 version of Borderlands 4 has been "delayed" with no new date announced.
Borderlands 4 has been dealing with quite a few technical issues across all platforms ever since the game was released. On PC, even the mighty RTX 5090 often struggles to consistently run the game at 60FPS and above at native resolution. Hardware Unboxed found that the average framerate for the RTX 5090 was just 77FPS at 1440p on the Badass graphical preset. This is without any form of upscaling or frame generation tech being used.
On consoles, there is an obvious memory leak issue that has actually been acknowledged by Gearbox, though no fix has been released just yet. There is almost no doubt that the priorities for Gearbox are to get these technical issues sorted before even thinking about releasing Borderlands 4 on hardware that is comparatively weaker than a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Digital Foundry put up a video showing how performance on consoles essentially craters after 30-60 minutes of play time. They found that simply going back to the main menu after 60 minutes of continuous play and then back into the game resolved the degraded performance issues. Of course, having to stop playing and return to the main menu after every 30-60 minutes of play isn't exactly ideal nor should it need to be done.
Even with this workaround, they found that Borderlands 4 on PlayStation and Xbox still resulted in some framerate drops after a full reboot.
The Steam user average for Borderlands 4 currently sits at "Mixed" after nearly 28,000 English reviews. By far, the biggest issue being reported in negative reviews involves the game's performance. In a separate video from Digital Foundry, they note that Borderlands 4 suffers from stutter issues (yes, this is an Unreal Engine 5 game). They also advise against running the game at the "Badass" graphical setting no matter which GPU you are using.
The full statement issued by Gearbox on the indefinite delay for Borderlands 4 on the Switch 2 can be found below.
Greetings, Vault Hunters - We need to share that the release of Borderlands 4 on Nintendo Switch 2 is being delayed. We do not take this decision lightly, but are committed to ensuring we deliver the best possible experience to our fans, and the game needs additional development and polish time to do that. Our hope is to also better align this release with the addition of cross saves, which we are working on and recognize is very important. We will update you all on the new release timing once we’ve fully adjusted our plans.
In accordance with Nintendo’s policy, all digital pre-orders to date will be cancelled. Customers can initiate that process themselves now, or it will happen automatically starting on Friday, Sept. 26. For questions about the Nintendo eShop, contact https://www.nintendo.com/au/support/...intendo-eshop/. For physical pre-orders, please reach out to the corresponding retailer.
We greatly appreciate the feedback, support and patience of our fans and community. It’s truly what keeps us going.
In accordance with Nintendo’s policy, all digital pre-orders to date will be cancelled. Customers can initiate that process themselves now, or it will happen automatically starting on Friday, Sept. 26. For questions about the Nintendo eShop, contact https://www.nintendo.com/au/support/...intendo-eshop/. For physical pre-orders, please reach out to the corresponding retailer.
We greatly appreciate the feedback, support and patience of our fans and community. It’s truly what keeps us going.
