Borderlands 4 is way too demanding for Steam Deck, just use GeForce Now instead
Borderlands 4 finally launched yesterday, but as good as the game looks, it is also extremely demanding. Even early PC tests showed that an RTX 4080 struggled to keep stable frame rates without Frame Generation, and that tells you a lot. If a powerful desktop GPU can’t handle it perfectly, weaker hardware is going to suffer even more.
And yes, that includes the Steam Deck. Players hoped that, at least with settings turned down, the game could be playable (while stretching the definition of playable). Sadly, early testing has shown that Borderlands 4 is just not a good fit for Valve’s handheld at all.
Borderlands 4 tested on Steam Deck
The folks at SteamDeckHQ tested Borderlands 4 on the Steam Deck, and their results are not encouraging. The game gave around 22 FPS in the opening areas, but with frequent drops down to 8-9 FPS when loading new areas or during random spikes. That kind of stuttering makes it hard to enjoy, especially in fast-paced combat.
The biggest problem here is CPU usage hitting 100%, while the GPU stayed closer to 80%. Even on the lowest settings with everything turned off or down, the performance was still rough. They tried different upscalers like FSR, TSR, and XeSS, but nothing really helped. So, if you’re a Steam Deck owner trying to play the game, don’t run Borderlands 4 natively. Instead, it’s a good time to invest in GeForce Now.
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GFN is Nvidia’s cloud gaming service, which already works wonders with the Steam Deck. In the past, you had to run it through desktop mode in a browser, but now there’s a native GeForce Now app for the Deck. Even better, Nvidia has introduced a next-gen upgrade that boosts streaming from 60 FPS to 90 FPS on the Steam Deck OLED and up to 120 FPS on the Legion Go S.
We tested the GeForce Now app and found it to be a game-changer for AAA games. At the time, we were testing out Oblivion Remastered and DOOM: The Dark Ages; with the latter requiring ray tracing as a minimum, the Steam Deck’s native performance was not cut out of the job.
With GeForce Now, you can play Borderlands 4 smoothly without worrying about hardware limits, stutters, or constant FPS drops. It might not be the same as running it locally, but for AAA games like this, it’s easily the best way to enjoy them on a handheld. Nvidia also recently introduced the RTX 5080 to their cloud gaming service, which is great news for those who want even more power and access to 50 series-exclusive features such as DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation.
