Analysts say the new entry set multiple American milestones: the quickest seller in franchise history, the first Borderlands to launch as the month’s best-selling game, and already the year’s third top seller — at least in the United States.

Vault hunting has never looked hotter. Just over a month after launch, Borderlands 4 has notched a string of U.S. records per fresh CIRCANA data, leaving its predecessor behind. A six-year gap clearly stoked demand: players flocked to Kairos to blast baddies and rake in loot. Mat Piscatella, senior director at CIRCANA (formerly NPD), reports the fourth game’s first-month sales ran 30% ahead of Borderlands 3 — a hefty jump by any measure.

The debut brought more milestones: within 24 hours, the action-RPG set a franchise Steam concurrent-player record despite “Mixed” user reviews. Randy Pitchford said Borderlands 4 was built to “bring new people in” — hopefully with better results than the film adaptation, which reportedly posted a $110 million loss. Opening-weekend trivia included 1.5 million items looted from toilets and only 25% of boss attempts ending in failure.

In September, Borderlands 4 topped the U.S. sales chart, outselling NBA 2K26, EA Sports FC 26, and Ghost of Yotei — the first time any entry in the series has finished a month at #1. Those figures also propelled it up the annual rankings: it’s currently 2025’s #3 best-selling game.

Translation: the spacefaring action-RPG is a bona fide hit — for the franchise and the wider market alike. Gearbox is already busy patching, rebalancing weapons and bosses as players steamroll through the launch content.

In a year featuring both Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Borderlands 4 delivers the louder, weirder, loot-driven alternative — and audiences are clearly vibing with it. Looks like we’ll be vault hunting for a long while yet.

Source: GamesRadar