Borderlands 4's Halloween event is being torn apart by disappointed players who call it a "huge step down" and one of the "worst" content drops in the looter shooter series

It's Halloween, the most wonderful time of year, filled with horror movies, pumpkin carving, and spooky events across many of our favorite games. Borderlands 4 is getting in on the fun, carrying on the series tradition of seasonal treats, except this year's offerings feel more trick than treat.

Getting into the scary spirit is something Borderlands has done since the second installment, where the TK Baha's Bloody Harvest DLC brought a new area, missions, and, of course, some lovely loot. The equivalent in the third, Bloody Harvest, was free and had Vault Hunters bustin' ghosts while dealing with undead enemies in search of four legendary weapons.

Borderlands 4 has the Horrors of Kairos, another free addition, but despite the low price of nothing, it's not going down well. The offerings are smaller than usual, with an environmental blood rain effect rather than an actually fresh area, and only two legendary weapons. The execution is lackluster, as the red storm is restricted to a single corner of the map, and players have been voicing their discontent.

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"I know it's free and free is good, but this isn't it," Borderlands content creator JoltzDude139 says on Twitter. "Driving circles for 20 minutes just to get one rift bubble and not get a new drop feels bad. It's a Knoxx DLC driving simulator."

Feedback is much the same across the board. "I know it's just a mini-event but compared to what we had in Borderlands 3 it's a huge step down," Moxsy, another video creator, posts. "BL3 added a new unique area, unique boss, and new loot and anointments. This event is over in two seconds, no unique enemies and underwhelming loot."

Borderlands modder and dataminer EpicNNG is even more emphatic. "I legitimately think it may be a top five worst content drop of all time in this franchise," they state on Twitter. "Free or not, it does not give it a pass on criticism. Legit what else have they released that is worse than this event?"

Credit where it's due, Gearbox's work here is horrifying, just not in the way the team would like. Horrors of Kairos runs until November 6, if you dare.

Borderlands 4 set multiple US records for Gearbox as the fastest-selling game in the series, the first to debut as the best-selling game of its month, and becoming the third-best seller of 2025, analyst says