Borderlands 4 launch "not as explosive as its predecessors," analyst reports, but "strong" Steam start and "steady console sales" make it "positioned for long legs" - especially once the discounts start flowing

Borderlands 4 might not have achieved the "explosive" initial success of past Borderlands releases, but one analyst reckons it could be positioned for a long tail of sustained success.

Alinea market analysis head Rhys Elliott broke down September's most-downloaded games in a new Substack post, with Skate 4 taking the top spot. Hollow Knight: Silksong, meanwhile, is absolutely crushing the original Hollow Knight with six million downloads after just four weeks, which isn't surprising to me as it's a sequel releasing after many years of anticipation.

As for Borderlands 4, Elliott noted Gearbox's sequel managed to crack the top five most downloaded games of the month with 3.1 million downloads across all platforms.

"While not as explosive as its predecessors, Borderlands 4's strong Steam uptake and steady console sales suggest it's positioned for long legs – once the discounts start coming in, that is," said Elliott.

Borderlands games are notoriously discount friendly, often getting heavy price cuts within just months on the market. In fact, a pre-release Reddit poll showed most respondents were willing to wait for a discount instead of paying the $70 base price to play at launch.

If there is a sizable chunk of Borderlands 4's player base still waiting for a discount, especially if sales come in increasingly tempting waves, that could help fuel a consistent, long-term stable of batches of new players every so often. Ideally, though, Borderlands 4 just has a robust enough endgame and roster of post-launch content to keep its most loyal base satisfied.

Borderlands 4 mercifully ditches most of Borderlands 3 potty humor, but Gearbox gives itself a treat and references Dark Souls meme from Twitter in hidden sidequest