Borderlands 3 recently reappeared on the Steam Deck's most-played games list, which suggests that if the Borderlands 4 Steam Deck rating is either Playable or Verified, it could prove popular on the handheld. Alas, even though the game is finally out on PC, Valve has yet to provide a rating, so we're still left making predictions based on the specs, for now.
If we use the Borderlands 4 system requirements to make an initial judgment, it's fair to say that Borderlands 4 could struggle on the aging Steam Deck hardware, even with tools like FSR and frame generation available. We still consider Valve's portable to be the best handheld gaming PC despite its limited power, but it and many other gaming handhelds may struggle to meet the demands of this looter shooter.
Is Borderlands 4 Steam Deck compatible?
Borderlands 4 does not yet have a Steam Deck rating. Given that Borderlands 4 just launched on PC, it's understandable that a rating isn't instantly available, as the game may still be awaiting testing from Valve.
In the case of Borderlands 4, Gearbox didn't seek a pre-release rating, and the system requirements give us cause for concern that a Verified rating will ever appear. With the game starting with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT as a GPU requirement, this means even if the game does run, it would likely require AMD FSR or Intel XeSS to get decent performance, as the Steam Deck's GPU is far less powerful than these options.
A potential alternative is that Gearbox works on a specific Steam Deck graphics profile to maximize performance, which is an approach Ubisoft has taken with Assassin's Creed Shadows. It's also worth noting that the Switch 2 is getting a version of Borderlands 4, which could indicate that handhelds are a priority for Gearbox and that the game can scale down to run well on handhelds.
Based on some early impressions from those who have released reviews, the Borderlands 4 PC performance appears to be in rough shape, dampening hopes of smooth Steam Deck play for now.
If you're keen for more Borderlands 4 news, you can check out how to get Borderlands 4 for free, thanks to Nvidia. You can also check out this custom Borderlands 4 graphics card that you can win, a must-have for the most dedicated vault hunters. For some in-game freebies, you can check out our Borderlands 4 Shift codes guide.
Are you looking forward to Borderlands 4, or is the looter shooter genre not to your taste? Let us know over in our community Discord server.