Borderlands 4: the plot evolves but technical problems persist

Borderlands 4 is already in the hands of players, and narrative director Sam Winkler is celebrating the team that helped create the game's storyline. After a six-year development, the narrative team is proud to have crafted a story that moves away from the more "stupid" humor of previous titles, which is a victory for the series' evolution.

Sam Winkler took to Twitter to express his pride, stating "I am ridiculously proud of our narrative team and the work they put in over the six years of development that this game took to produce." The team, which included writer Taylor Clark, worked to tone down the "toilet humor," with Clark even ensuring there were no references to the "Skibidi Toilet." To the team's delight, early negative reviews on Steam do not mention the story, focusing on other issues instead.

However, Gearbox's narrative triumph is overshadowed by other problems. Despite efforts to create a more refined plot, some reviews indicate that the dialogue can still be "annoying." More critically, the game is facing a wave of negative reviews on Steam focusing on a controversial Terms of Service (TOS) agreement and, more concerning, "poor performance." Technical and legal issues are currently overshadowing the storyline's success.

Sam Winkler thanked "hundreds" of people from Gearbox, 2K, and external partners for their work on the game, but the release has been a bittersweet experience. While the plot may have been enhanced, the game's overall success still depends on how Gearbox will address performance issues and the service terms frustrating the player base on PC.