"This is a massive fumble": Borderlands 4 players furious as drop rates are slashed after holiday event, even though Gearbox promises a "longer-term solution"

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"This is a massive fumble": Borderlands 4 players furious as drop rates are slashed after holiday event, even though Gearbox promises a "longer-term solution" News By Anthony McGlynn published 9 January 2026

They're going back to pre-holiday levels

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Gearbox giveth, and Gearbox taketh away. Those higher drop rates in Borderlands 4 are being temporarily rolled back, according to the developer, and fans aren’t pleased about the fluctuation after getting used to the greater riches.

On Twitter, a player responds to the latest patch notes from the official Borderlands account asking if they can "conclude that the increased drop rates are staying?" Sadly not, as confirmed in a reply from Gearbox. "The drop rates are back to their pre-holiday event percentages!" says the post.

"That said, the team saw the positive reception and are investigating a longer-term increase," Gearbox adds. Despite the second part indicating this is not the last we'll see of more forgiving drops, this isn't going down well.

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The drop rates are back to their pre-holiday event percentages! That said, the team saw the positive reception and are investigating a longer-term increase.January 8, 2026

"'Positive reception' then takes it away. Way to keep the game alive guys," says one reply on Twitter. "I'm sad to understand that the drop rates went back to their original state. The increased drop rates felt really good and rewarding," says another.

The general sentiment is quite negative, as it seems counter-intuitive to introduce something to make vault hunting more pleasurable, only to then roll it back for whatever reason. From Gearbox's words, it sounds like the rates aren't where the devs would like them to be, and things are being reverted in order to roll-out the change in a way that works for the overall complexion of the shooter.

Ki11er Six, a noted Borderlands streamer and YouTuber, expresses their frustration in pointed fashion. "This is a massive fumble," they state. "These people really need to do better for all those people who don't have the time to spend 400 hours playing this damn game," adds a top response. Gearbox may want to try get this longer-term plan sorted sooner rather than later.

Borderlands boss Randy Pitchford says the games industry is "just getting started": "We haven't even had our Citizen Kane yet, let alone Jurassic Park or Star Wars. We're just figuring this s**t out."

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Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. TOPICS Gearbox Gearbox Software CATEGORIES PC Gaming PS5 Xbox Series X Platforms PlayStation Xbox Anthony McGlynnSocial Links NavigationContributing Writer

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

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Logout Read more Borderlands 4 butcher slaughters 3,000 bosses over 150 hours to prove just how bad the shooter's drop rates are: "I am pretty much done"    Borderlands 4 update that aims the nerf cannon at its most broken builds delayed into next week, so enjoy your crit knife until then    Gearbox drops Borderlands 4 patch with "major balance tuning" including some skills it "didn't want to nerf" and others it totally did: "It had to happen, you knew it was going to happen!"    Borderlands 4's nerf-heavy patch misses its already delayed release window as Gearbox still has "a few things we're tidying up," but it'll finally launch tomorrow    Otherwise excellent Borderlands 4 patch accidentally brings back the infamous crit knife: "How does this go through testing?"    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    Latest in Borderlands Everything you need to get started in Borderlands 4 in one place    Gearbox finally fixes the most frustrating loot in Borderlands 4: "Class Mods have been adjusted to drop more for your current character"    Borderlands 4's "most insane glitch" yet lets you break every character's skill tree and changes "the build meta for every build," swiftly catching the attention of Gearbox: "We're on it"    Borderlands Online revival still a go, as modder leading the recreation of China's canceled Gearbox MMO says devs are on "one of the latest, if not final, builds of the game"    Borderlands 4's launch "was a bit softer than we would've liked" partly because of PC performance issues, Take-Two CEO says, but "we're immensely proud of Gearbox" anyway    Otherwise excellent Borderlands 4 patch accidentally brings back the infamous crit knife: "How does this go through testing?"    Latest in News Borderlands 4 players furious as drop rates are slashed after holiday event, Gearbox promises a "longer-term solution"    Baldur's Gate 3 devs had "all the freedom we needed" to make the RPG, aside from tabletop "limitations"    Stranger Things documentary director suggests season 5 theory is "wishful thinking," and no secret episode 9 is coming    Divinity will have co-op at launch, but the number of possible players depends on "the final party size" and mods    Baldur's Gate 3 director u-turns on the use of AI art in Divinity, will no longer use tech for concept art development    The Marvels director Nia DaCosta would "love" to direct a live-action Invincible    GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS

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