Borderlands 4 launched with serious performance issues, but 2K Games and Gearbox have delivered substantial fixes through updates. Testing between the launch version (v1.0.2) and current v1.5 update reveals approximately 20% performance improvement across various hardware configurations and quality settings. The development team targeted efficiency improvements to enhance stability.

The most dramatic improvements occurred at native resolution without DLSS, with some systems gaining up to 43% FPS at 1080p Low settings. Even with DLSS enabled, performance increased between 17-35%. 1% and 0.1% lows improved across the board, with some tests showing nearly 100% improvement in 0.1% lows, creating a much smoother gameplay experience. These gains translate directly to better player experience.

Gearbox attributes the performance uplift to general efficiency improvements and refinements to the Shader PSO process. Developers reduced polygon counts for effects and optimized physics, cloth simulations, and Unreal Engine 5's Virtual Shadow Maps. These optimizations reduced both CPU and GPU usage during gameplay, addressing the stability issues that plagued the game at launch.