The world of video games has witnessed an interesting phenomenon in recent weeks: while criticism focused on the technical problems of Borderlands 4 (here our review), the numbers tell a completely different story. The fourth chapter of the famous Saga Sparata has conquered over 2.5 million players from its debut on September 12, generating revenues of over 150 million dollars. These data, provided by Alinea Analytics, demonstrate how the Gearbox brand still maintains an irresistible charm for the world public, despite the initial controversies.
Sales distribution reveals interesting dynamics between the different platforms. On Steam, the title exceeded 1.3 million copies sold, translating into over 80 million dollars of turnover. The consoles have contributed with more than a million additional units, completing a decidedly positive economic picture for Gearbox Software.
The peak of popularity has clearly manifested itself through the competition data on Steam, where Borderlands 4 exceeded 300,000 simultaneous players immediately after the launch. A result that testifies to the immediate interest of the community for the new chapter of the series.
The geographical analysis of the players offers particularly interesting ideas to understand the global market. On Steam, over half of the users comes from the United States, followed by China, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada. On PlayStation, however, the American domain is confirmed with similar percentages, while the European markets show more distributed shares, with the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Canada that oscillate between 5% and 8%.

These geographical numbers reflect not only regional preferences for the different platforms, but also specific marketing and distribution strategies for each territory. The strong Chinese presence on Steam, for example, highlights the growing importance of the Asian market for western titles.
A fascinating aspect that emerged from the analysis concerns the videogame background of the players of Borderlands 4. On Steam, 59% has already played Borderlands 2, while 51% had experience with the third chapter. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, the most recent spin-off, was tried by 22% of users.
The situation changes drastically on PlayStation, where the influence of PlayStation Plus has changed consumer patterns. 81% of players were already familiar with Borderlands 3, 64% with The Handsome Collection and 50% with Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. These data demonstrate how subscription services can significantly shape the public experience with a franchise.
Despite commercial success, Borderlands 4 did not escape criticism for initial performance problems, particularly on PC. Alinea Analytics, however, provides that this negative narrative will gradually dissolve with the optimization of the game over time.
Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox, responded to controversy through a series of X posts, suggesting that part of the performance problems was attributable to the optimization of the PCs of the players rather than the game itself. A position that fueled further discussions in the community, but that does not seem to have affected the commercial success of the title.