Borderlands 4 is nearly out, but a crash caught in its latest preview video has raised eyebrows.
The clip came from Conan O’Brien’s Clueless Gamer charity segment, where he and his co-host ran through a preview build of the game.
They were trading jokes and fumbling shots like always, right up until the moment the game froze and shut them out.
Even more awkward, the pop-up message noted the game had “crashed more than once recently,” which directly contradicted the co-host’s insistence that this had never happened before.
Why Are Fans Already Worried About Performance?
The incident quickly spread online, as Borderlands 4 is already under performance scrutiny.
Critics are likening it more to Borderlands 2 than 3, but any excitement is being clouded by worries about crashes.
Reports suggest the game demands a lot from PCs, with Randy Pitchford himself warning that rigs below minimum specs would find it “unplayable.”
There are also whispers of poor performance on Nintendo’s Switch 2, which doesn’t help calm fears that this Unreal Engine 5 project may follow the trend of rocky PC launches.
Was the Failure Staged or Genuine?
It’s still uncertain if the crash was authentic or staged, with some pointing to the “marketing_playtest” tag on the build and the co-host’s keyboard tap just before it happened.
Many assume it was planned, but even so, it’s a bold risk given the performance worries hanging over the release.
Publicly showing your blockbuster title break down days before release is a gamble in any context.
Did Fans See Too Much Too Soon?
Making matters worse, the video initially contained what fans consider a major spoiler.
The footage featured a cutscene where Amara reappears with a harsh story turn.
After backlash, the video was briefly pulled and re-uploaded with the spoiler removed, but the crash sequence was left in place.
For many watching, it cemented the impression that either way, Gearbox’s big showcase didn’t land the way the marketing team intended.
What Should Players Expect at Launch?
Launch day will be the real decider, and though updates are planned, the debate on whether Borderlands 4 holds up will continue until reviews and hands-on play confirm it.
For now, the most talked-about piece of its pre-release push is Conan O’Brien staring at a frozen screen, which isn’t the sort of headline any studio hopes for in launch week.
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