Borderlands 4 Player Count is Down 96% from Its Peak

Borderlands 4’s concurrent player count peaked at 304,398 around launch two months ago, but it’s now down a staggering 96%. Released to mostly positive reviews back in September, Borderlands 4 is the latest entry in Gearbox Software’s zany looter-shooter franchise. The game features a new set of Vault Hunters, massive open zones, and the tried-and-true blend of Borderlands action and humor.

Borderlands 4 reviews were positive, with praise for bringing the franchise’s established looter-shooter formula successfully to a new generation of consoles while simultaneously taking things in some bold new directions, like with the aforementioned huge open zones for players to explore solo or with their friends in co-op. Borderlands 4 hasn’t escaped criticism, however, with many taking issue with the endgame. Regardless, Borderlands 4 has an overall critic score of 82, though its Steam user scores have fallen to “Mixed” status.

Borderlands 4 Steam Player Count is Way Down

It seems many Steam users have largely moved on from Borderlands 4. The game’s peak concurrent player count was 304,398. In the last 24 hours, its peak concurrent player count on the platform was 10,225 players, a drop of 96.64%. If we go back to last weekend, the number peaked north of 13,000, which is a little better, but not by a lot. Still, Borderlands 4’s strong early Steam numbers mean it’s still the most successful Borderlands game on the platform, and while its 24-hour peak concurrent player counts have been super low compared to the peak, it’s still outperforming its predecessors.

Borderlands 4 Isn’t a Live-Service Game

While it is interesting that Borderlands 4’s peak player count has dropped so dramatically, it is worth pointing out that the game is not a live-service title. It doesn’t live and die by how many people are currently playing it. That being said, there is new Borderlands 4 content still being released, and one has to imagine that the post-launch support would take a hit if the player count cratered to absolutely nothing. But that’s unlikely and so the player count isn’t something to sound the alarm over. Plus, Steam isn’t the whole story when it comes to BL4’s player count anyway. The game is available on a variety of platforms, including Steam competitor the Epic Games Store.

What may make Borderlands fans a little more nervous is Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick’s comments about Borderlands 4’s sales. Zelnick said that the Borderlands 4 initial US sales numbers had “a little bit of softness out of the gate,” though he believes that the gap will be made up over time. This does indicate that Take-Two expected a bit more out of Borderlands 4, even though the game sold more copies at launch than any previous games in the series. However, we don’t have a full picture of Borderlands 4’s sales numbers or Take-Two’s expectations for the game.

What’s Next for Borderlands 4

Borderlands 4 recently released its first Bounty Pack for free to all players, and it has some big plans in store for 2026. A second Bounty Pack with new missions, skins, bosses, and more is on deck, plus Story Pack 1: Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned, featuring new Vault Hunter C4SH. More Bounty Packs, bosses, and Story Packs are on the way later in 2026 as well, so there is a lot for fans to look forward to.

What will be interesting to see is how the Borderlands 4 Steam player count changes when the more substantial content, like the first Story Pack, drops. Big updates are great ways to bring lapsed players back into the fold, and that could very well be what happens with Borderlands 4 next year.

Source: Steam DB