Take-Two’s story of the day may be Grand Theft Auto 6’s delay to late 2026, but the company’s investor call also revealed some info about its other titles. Borderlands 4 fell short of the publisher’s sales expectations despite the biggest launch in franchise history and its debut as the third-highest selling game of 2025.
While speaking with The Game Business, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick laid the blame for Borderlands 4’s performance on the optimization problems plaguing the PC port.
“The critical acclaim [for Borderlands 4] was superb, and we’re really happy with the release,” said Zelnick. “Equally, as you know, there were some challenges with the Steam release. [Developer] Gearbox has been addressing those challenges and will continue to do so. So, in terms of units sold out of the gate, the numbers were a little softer than we would have liked. In the fullness of time, we think it’s going to do great.”
It’s true that some PC players review bombed Borderlands 4 on Steam about its performance and optimization issues. In response, Gearbox Studios CEO Randy Pitchford openly challenged players’ negative reviews and remained defiant about it days later. Pitchford also shared a number of tips for better performance on PC and consoles.
However, the PC sales figures may not tell the whole story. The American/Canadian console sales for October 2025 haven’t been released yet, but PlayStation’s list of the top downloads for North America reveal that Borderlands 4 dropped to 14th place after debuting at number three a month earlier. This suggests a broader dissatisfaction with the game beyond PC users, and the PS5 version did have some optimization issues as well.
Later this month, Gearbox will drop Borderlands 4’s first paid DLC pack, and the developer debuted a bee-shooting legendary weapon this week. The Switch 2 version of Borderlands 4 remains indefinitely delayed for now.
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