Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "BORDERLANDS 4 SETS NEW FRANCHISE RECORD ON STEAM WITH 200K PLAYERS ON LAUNCH DAY"

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠Join The Normandy For Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here: ⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠Analytic Dreamz dives into Borderlands 4's chaotic September 12, 2025, release by Gearbox Software and 2K Games on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam/Epic—Switch 2 port hits October 3. Set on dystopian Kairos, this darker "soft reboot" trades Borderlands 3's memes for grounded resistance vibes, boasting 20-25 hour main story, 50-60 with sides, and 120-170 completionist runs. Sales exploded: 1M+ on Steam in days, another 1M+ consoles pre-Switch, 5M units in 48 hours (franchise-fastest), pushing lifetime totals past 100M ($150M+ revenue). Peak concurrents hit 304,398 (#46 Steam all-time), outpacing Hollow Knight: Silksong's 587,150 but at $70 vs. $20.Critics laud Metacritic 84/PC and OpenCritic 85 ("Mighty" top 7%) for exhilarating gunplay, loot depth, seamless open world (no loading zones), and co-op—IGN 8/10, GameSpot 7/10 praise mobility like double-jumps, grappling, and hybrid "Licensed Parts" weapons blending 8 manufacturers. Bosses demand 10+ minute multi-phase mechanics, not sponges. But "Stutterlands 4" memes rage over Unreal Engine 5 woes: PC stuttering, RTX 4090 FPS drops, crashes, memory leaks; consoles locked at 70° FOV, no motion blur toggle. Day 1 patch helped, but corrupted saves, UI glitches persist—Steam reviews "Mixed."Controversies fuel toxicity: Pre-launch EULA "spyware" rumors (debunked), Pitchford's "$80 real fans" tweet sparking piracy threats, $130 Super Deluxe skimping DLC vs. BL3's $100 Ultimate. Post-launch, Pitchford's "build your own engine" clapback ignited review-bombs. Community splits on Reddit/X: Co-op bliss and Easter eggs (Noisy Cricket, bobbleheads) vs. bland villain, pricing gripes. Analytic Dreamz unpacks if patches salvage this loot-shooter gem amid franchise highs and dev drama—tune in for the full fallout.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It is finally time to get into the review and sales roundup as far as over at notorious mass effect because the masses are currently not having the same experience that I'm having. Shepard, just look at the state of gaming. Like, what is going on? What is going on is that the masses has nicknamed this game Stutterlands 4. I know that ain't who I think it is. But as far as my personal review, which you can check out over at Analytic Dreams video on Spotify, right here. If you type in Borderlands 4 analytic dreams with a Z on Spotify, my gameplay will pop up.

And obviously, when it comes to my personal sentiments of playing the game, I enjoyed it. And of course, when it comes to me playing solo, I had other homies who was also playing the game. And I would just imagine that if I had fun by myself, as far as the engaging combat loot, as far as all the guns feeling amazing. And then the story was serviceable as far as getting you from point A to point B. Now, you come to realize if you was to add more people and play along

with other guys as far as who's also playing the game, you'll probably enjoy it even more. So for me, my personal review is I enjoy the game. So with that being said, the main thing I want to get into after talking about, well, before talking about the sales and review Roundup, is how the technical and optimization issues

for this particular game has been the main focal point for a lot of people in the game and community. As they said, there's a lot of issues with stuttering, shader compilation as far as crashes, FPS drops, even with the RTX4090, memory leaks. A lot of consoles players are coming out saying that it's locked at the 70 FOV, missing motion blur, toggle, and occasional crashes, which, to be fair, I never had a crash personally playing the game,

But I was watching other playthroughs and for some reason, they just kept crashing all over the place. Now, they was playing with other players, so I think that led to their issues. But, of course, there's no excuse. So a game, AAA game that's asking for a $70 that has a $70 price tag. And that's for the base addition. It should not be stuttering when playing with other games when that's the main focal point of the gameplay loop. Right. So them nicknaming this game, Stutterlands 4 is beyond comical.

but of course we have to move past that and get into the overall overall review and sales roundup of the game so starting with the sales this game has been doing and performing phenomenally as it's the second most play game on playstation as far as xbox i didn't see it in the top 10 nor is it trending on game pass because it's not on game pass but it is the third most play game on steam with this steam numbers having 178,000 people concurrently playing the game right now, an all-time peak of 304,000 and 24-hour peak of 211,000. Now, that is phenomenal, especially for what I'm, well, it's technically not single-player game. So a multiplayer game like Borderlands 4. If you wanted to know specifically what this type of game is, just know when it comes to Borderlands 4, you're going to be doing a lot of multiplayer content.

And of course, it's out on a PS5 Xbox Series X and SPC via Steam slash Epic. The main story, they're saying would take you around 20 to 25 hours. But of course, when it comes to completion, it's the side content. It'll take you between 60 to 170 hours. Safe to say, this is a ginormous game. Shepherd, just look at the state of gaming. Like, what is going on? And also, when it comes to the overall sales for this particular game, when it first came out,

it sold around 1 million copies in its first few days on Steam. And then as far as other consoles, I do believe when it comes to Borderlands specifically, and 48 hours is the fastest ever in the franchise as far as reaching 5 million units worldwide. And then also, as far as revenue, it garnered a whopping $150 million $150 million even despite the controversies. So a lot of people playing this game

is enjoying it, but of course the technical bugs seem to be making the headlines for some reason. As if a game keeps breaking, and of course, I didn't even bring up, what's his name, Randy Pitchford, Randy Pitch, yeah, I think that's his name.

I didn't even bring up Randy Pitchfork for it because that man said the most egregious thing possible when addressing the bugs and glitches, right? He came out and I don't know if he's a CEO, the boss, he's the gearbox boss. So the gearbox boss Randy Pitchford that's obviously behind this game, he has some pretty interesting things to say. And he admits that Borderlands 4 is not up to stuff as far as the optimization, right? But then he went on to say some interesting things. he said quote everybody that's ever done anything goes into it like i want to do the best job i can and try hard whether you're drawing a picture with crayons at six years old that's going to go on a

refrigerator to being the Beatles in writing let it be but that's not it he went on to say some more things and it's very interesting how he went on to say this particular thing but let me say right now Quote, and so I just think we don't worry about the hate. That's actually a different form of love, huh? If someone's commenting, they're invested, man. They care. They've spent their time because it takes time to post it. It takes time to stop our day and get involved in something.

So I use that as fuel. Let's make more. And all of us should do that. I know that ain't who I think it is. But that's not it, ladies and gentlemen. he had one of the more egregious points even after that to the point where i thought it was a fake quote this man basically i'm trying to see uh where was that because yeah here it is so him responding to the criticisms for the pc engine right and this is randy pitch for we're talking about the boss of of gearbox

coming out saying this he essentially said quote code your own engine Oh, you don't believe me, hold on. Let me bring up the article. Oh, you must have. You must thought it's fake news over here. Hold on let me switch this. Analytic Dreams video on Spotify to see the video along with audio. Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to zoom in on this.

So just in case you don't think we're making stuff up, this man said the most egregious thing possible. On September 13th, Pitchford took to Twitter to address complaints about poor PC performance. What do you say? He probably said something like, oh, I love the fans. We're working so hard to optimize it so. for the issues. Did he say that? Oh, I don't think so. This man came out and gave a sarcastic reply to a user and challenged them to quote, as you can see right here, let me just highlight the quote. Code your own engine.

Sheppard, just look at the state of gaming. Like, what is going on? And not only did he say code your own engine. He says, show us how it's done. Shepard, just look at the state of gaming. Like, what is going on? So, ladies and gentlemen, I don't want to focus on that because that's beyond atrocious and beyond dismissive to the masses who pay money to play your game, right? Telling somebody to code their own engine

is literally like going to McDonald's, asking for a burger, they give you some fries and some chicken nuggets, and you ask them, where the burger at? And they tell you, guess what? Make your own burger. You guys. see that's the problem I don't know they ain't how it work

like we pay the hard-earned money we want the product that we paid for right but obviously Randy Pitch for it could care less so anyways with that being said let's get into the overview of Borderlands 4 after talking about all the sales and things of that nature even with the boss coming out seeing the most

as to non things possible borderlands 4 is still the third most play game on Steam obviously like I just said it wasn't on the top 10 on Xbox and it wasn't on GamePass because it's not available on GamePath But as far as PlayStation, it's the second most play game on PlayStation. So that's a huge accomplishment. And when it comes to the overall concurrent player count is 178,000 people playing concurrently on PC specifically.

So the sales are doing phenomenal. Let's see how long that lasts, especially with the optimization issues and people coming out to call the Stutterlands 4. Now, that's a beyond hilarious name, but let's get into the actual details of the game. So now when you look at the pre-launch controversies, when you look at the pricing being $70 with the Super Deluxe edition being $130, but it's less than the DOC for a Borderlands $300 Ultram, which is very interesting. I think the post-launch game plan via Randy Pitchford, he essentially told critics to build their own engine and get a refund. So when it comes to post-launch content, we would be hard pressed if they even get to that. that you guys see that's the problem now when it comes to my main enjoyment of the game I really like the gunplay once more the biggest thing that stood out to me as somebody who's

part of the colorblind is the setting I love the vibrant setting I love the aesthetic because when you go for too much of a realism type of game 20 to 30 years from now you're gonna look back and it's not gonna be realistic at all at all honestly it's gonna make it even it's going to be more it's going to be even more of a detriment to the overall graphics of the game because of it not having the realistic graphics that it was going to uh going for back then so now when you go for this aesthetic it reminds me of and this is going to be a random game that i'm throw at you but it reminds me of the spectacular spider-man game i think it was that one it was the one it was like a comic book uh comic book spider-man game so let me see i don't know if it's a spectacular

Spider-Man it was one of them how did I forget my own my favorite fictional character Spider-Man spectacular game Venom let me see animated let me see if animated pulls it up so I didn't pull it up at all okay well it's one of the animated games it's the only animated game that looks like is straight out of a comic book I'm not talking about web of shadows I'm talking about let me see if that pulls it up yeah it's not pulling up it's just pulling up Spider-Man PS5 I forget what that game's called but y'all know what i'm talking about right the spider-man game where the ultimate focus was making it look like it exactly came out of a comic book so all it's called it's titled ultimate spider-man

not not spectacular my fault but this game right here which is a straight-up classic if you never played this as a spider-man fanatic i ain't going to lie to you just needs to be on your bucket list to just understand the greatness of this character right i always say spider-man's the greatest fictional creation of all time this is one the greatest video games for this specific character They never got a sequel, but, you know, saddened history. So that type of aesthetic is timeless. You go back to that game, you're never going to be like, oh, it's not realistic enough because of the actual art form that it was going for and accomplished.

I think that's the same scenario with Borderlands 4 currently. Playing the game, watching other people play it. One thing is for certain. The setting, the world of Borderlands 4 may be the best looking world in 2025. And I know Expedition 33 fans are going to be like, what? I know. I know somebody's not giving kudos of aesthetic over Expedition 33. Well, yes, I am.

I just feel like overall, Borderlands 4, the aesthetic, the open world. Because Expedition 33 technically is open world, but it's not as expansive as a Borderlands 4. And of course, when it comes to that, you have to obviously keep in mind the Expedition 33 and 33 people. people on their team, right? Their dev team. Borderlands 4 had a way bigger budget, a way bigger team developing the game. And for them that copy, not copy, but have a same aesthetic as far as intriguing factor, like an expedition 33, I'm giving a nod to Borderlands 4 as having the greatest looking

open world game in 2025. So anyways, that's a huge compliment, in my opinion. So when you're looking at it from that perspective, I think at the very least it's worth try if you're a huge borderlands fan so now let's get into let's get into some of the game and conglomerates as far as their specific reviews as ig n gave borderlands for an eight out of ten essentially saying quote blasting through hordes of psychos with a friend or three feels as awesome as it ever has borderlands four keeps that feeling fresh by continuing to iterate on the silly weapons praises the wacky arsenal and co-op

but notes rocky PC performance which you already talked about bugs and invisible walls hindering ex-ploration then you come to game spot given this game a seven out of ten saying that the core bread and butter rewarding loot and satisfying shooting and i can personally attest to that that's one of the main things i felt playing the game every single weapon felt phenomenal even the weapon that you know i humorously did not like as far as you the reload button being throwing the gun and shooting it to explode. That gun also felt, well, those type of guns still felt well as far as shooting and the handling of it. Polygon gave Borderlands 4, 8 out of 10. Games Radar Plus gave it an 8 out of 10. PC gamer gave it an 8 out of 10. I'm a read off PC gamers review. So PC gamer said, a big step up from Borderlands 3. Type and responsive gun play. Hold up now. commends improvements over the previous entry but criticizes performance woes like bugs and frame drops that choke your GPU suggesting patches are needed so unlike Randy pitch for it when he just said build your own engine PC gamer is actually given the actual solution as far as borderlands team gearbox coming out and actually

putting a patch for the game so then at the end of the day when you look at all these reviews safe to say a lot of people are saying that this is a solid game to me this is the best open world game i've seen in 2025 um i pull the color blinds to do keep that in mind i do like vibrance and how it's turned up to the max on borderlands for and for some people that may not be their cup of tea i know some people say those getting headaches as far as playing the game because it's just so much going on on the screen but for me i was enjoying it i was like this is how i want all my games to look but um when it comes to that if you don't know about the story i will break it down but guess what don't nobody care about the story everybody goes into it playing with

their friends and that's essentially it they they shoot they loot they loot and they shoot and guess what they rinse and repeat so so with that being said just know the borderlands for is out now on ps5 xxxx4s pcvous theme um trying to see if i missed anything i don't know basically covered everything all right so yeah so with that being said click my link to my bio let me know one of my social media is what do you think of borderlands for currently and do you think that you put full screen for this do you think that you should build your own engine if you complain about borderlands for