Borderlands 4's new, free DLC hasn't moved the needle at all, and I think I know why

As someone whose job involves keeping track of how well games are doing and what everyone's playing, I'm very used to watching player counts bump up and down as updates and expansions arrive. It's all part of the natural flow. Yet despite Gearbox dropping a free Borderlands 4 DLC on us this week, there's been absolutely no change in its Steam numbers. Even as someone who's really enjoyed my time with it so far, I'm finding it difficult to pluck up the motivation to return for the new story event, and it seems the community is feeling much the same.

Before I sound too negative, I really like Borderlands 4. It's a huge improvement on the third entry in almost every way, building on both the good and bad parts of its divisive predecessor. It's definitely one of the best FPS games I've played this year, and possibly even my number one among them. But I haven't come rushing back for the new free story DLC, and I'm not alone; its Steam peak this week sits at just 15,887 concurrent users, almost exactly the same as last week's high and a little down from the start of the month.

The initial drop-off from its massive launch high isn't too surprising; while Borderlands 4 certainly makes more concessions to the endgame grind for gear, it's never going to appeal in the same way that full-blown, Diablo-style ARPGs do. The number of people who keep going after rolling credits is a relatively small percentage, and 2025 has been a year that's absolutely stacked with all manner of great options, big and small, to move on to next.

Outside of a niche, dedicated crowd, Borderlands is a game most play through for the story, with replayability typically derived from trying out new characters. With the move to an open world and side missions that are more entertaining than its main narrative, the impact of revisiting the campaign feels somewhat lessened, which Gearbox seems to have acknowledged by letting you fast-track characters into Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode. There's been a push towards the gear grind in B4, but why would I go back now when upcoming expansions are going to ramp up the UVHM cap and likely outpace my existing builds?

Then we have the new DLC itself. 'How Rush Saved Mercenary Day' is a festive tale following the leader of the Outbounders, and I'm glad to see him getting a little more character work. It's not an especially substantial add-on, however; Gearbox decided to give it out for free because it "realized that there was more mayhem than time when it came to getting as much into Bounty Pack 1 as originally planned," due to the amount of work needed for optimization and balance changes.

This is a slightly lighter-than-planned outing, then, although it still includes a new boss fight, legendary loot, and cosmetics alongside the story missions. If you bought the deluxe edition, don't worry; you'll now get an extra fifth bounty pack to compensate for this one. Still, it's not the most compelling reason to return, and Gearbox hasn't done a particularly good job of shouting about the fact that everyone's getting it for nothing. Add in the fact that the PC version still suffers from performance struggles if you're not on a high-end machine, and the list of minor caveats starts to outweigh the slight temptations.

Perhaps I'll make an effort over the holiday break, when the Rush story will feel more thematically relevant than right now, but I'm more likely to hold off until the first full Story Pack DLC arrives. I'm much more excited about that; Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned is delivering a cosmic-horror adventure alongside one of BL2's most iconic cast members, and new Vault Hunter C4SH looks like he'll be rewarding to play as well. Hopefully it delivers; I'd really like a good reason to come back to Kairos.