With the latest Borderlands installments mostly failing to live up to expectations, many are looking towards Borderlands 4 to see if it can turn the fortunes of the franchise around. Although it is too early to make a judgment on the matter, it seems that the game has the potential to accomplish this. Borderlands 4's initial reveal trailer may have been met with disinterest by some fans, but recent footage of the game has left a much more positive impression on players. While the game isn't changing the series' gameplay formula that much, it features a lot of exciting new mechanics and is dialing back on the cringeworthy humor from Borderlands 3.
Borderlands 4 has been touted by developer Gearbox Software as the biggest and most open-ended installment in the series yet. Unlike its predecessors, the game is said to have four interconnected regions, each of which can be explored with zero load times. As for the weapons in the game, Gearbox has claimed that Borderlands 4 has over 30 billion possible gun combinations, which is roughly 30x the amount that Borderlands 3 has. In spite of Borderlands 4's ambitious scope, the game will be missing a few major features at launch, but this situation isn't necessarily as bad as it sounds.
Borderlands 4 Won't Have Some Features at Launch, But It's Not All Bad
Gearbox recently announced in a post on Steam that Borderlands 4 will not have support for cross-save or cross-progression at launch. This, in other words, means that players will not be able to transfer their save files or account-based progress between platforms. While this won't be a problem for most people, especially those who prefer to play their games on one platform, it may be an issue for gamers who own multiple devices. Players on PC, for example, will not be able to pick up where they left off on a PlayStation or Xbox console, so they'll have to restart their progress every time they switch platforms.
Even Without Cross-Save or Cross-Progression, BL4 Will Have Cross-Play Functionality
Despite the omission of these two features, there is a bright side to this news. In the same Steam post, Gearbox confirmed that Borderlands 4 will launch with full cross-play support on Xbox Game Pass and all platforms. Because of this, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC players will be able to play the game with their friends, regardless of what devices they own. Although the inclusion of cross-play in Borderlands 4 isn't all that surprising, given that it's a common feature in video games these days, it's still a pretty big step forward for the Borderlands franchise as a whole.
Even though it will come out a month after the game's other versions, Borderlands 4's Nintendo Switch 2 port will also support cross-play.
Borderlands Games Have Usually Not Been Released With Features Like Cross-Play
Even though they're co-op-centric shooters, the Borderlands games have, for the most part, almost never launched with cross-play, cross-progression, or cross-save functionality. Borderlands 3 received support for cross-play across Xbox, PC, Mac, and Stadia nearly two years after its initial debut. Despite some requests from fans, the game never received proper cross-progression or cross-save support of any kind. The same can also be said of the recent Borderlands spin-off game, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands. That title, however, did at least launch with cross-play functionality.
Due to the feature being initially blocked by Sony, the PlayStation versions of Borderlands 3 didn't get cross-play support until nearly a year after the other ports of the game.
Unlike Other Borderlands Games, BL4 is Going to Get Cross-Save and Cross-Progression Eventually
Although Borderlands 4 won't initially support the two features, the developers at Gearbox have confirmed that they plan to add cross-save and cross-progression to the game at a later date. If the company does actually live up to its promises, then this will make Borderlands 4 the first and only Borderlands game to support both features. This, combined with its cross-play functionality, will make it the series' most accessible installment to date. While it's disappointing that these features won't be available at launch, the fact that players will eventually be able to transfer their saves and progress in Borderlands 4 between different platforms is a commendable achievement on its own.
Borderlands 4
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 88%
- Released
- September 12, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Gearbox Software
- Publisher(s)
- 2K
WHERE TO PLAY
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