Kinda Funny Games Daily – September 12, 2025

Episode Title: Borderlands 4 is Having a Rough Launch

Hosts: Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller, Andy Cortez
Air Date: September 12, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the turbulent launch of Borderlands 4, focusing on its troubled PC debut. Greg, Andy, and Barrett discuss the game’s technical issues, community backlash, and broader questions about PC optimization, anti-piracy measures, and accessibility. The show also covers the reveal of Battlefield 6’s battle royale mode, Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic, AI voice acting controversy in Tomb Raider, Pokemon Home limitations, and a packed WeNews segment. The conversation is lively, humorous, and opinionated, as always.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Borderlands 4’s Rough PC Launch

[08:46–18:02]

- Steam Reviews & Performance Woes

• Despite a record growth on Steam (over 207,000 concurrent players), Borderlands 4 is “getting clobbered on Steam with negative reviews” due to poor PC performance.
• Frequent complaints: crashes, severe stuttering, frame drops, and optimization issues—even on high-end hardware.
• Example reviews:
  • “Not worth buying in its current state unless you have a NASA PC.” – Rage (09:52)
  • “None of that matters when you can’t play for more than 10 minutes without a hitch, a crash, or your frames falling off a cliff. It’s like locking a gourmet meal behind a glass case and handing us a plastic fork.” – Steam user Satan Claus (09:54)
  • Even a reviewer with a 4070 Ti struggles for stable framerates.
• Greg recounts his experience running the game on a “Razer Blade 16 with a beefy 5090 GPU," but even then, “that computer was constantly…It sounds like it’s about to take the fuck off.” (12:15)

- Underlying Technical Concerns

• Andy: Issues persist “no matter what settings you’re doing,” with results ranging from 48–59 fps even on premium setups. Reliance on Nvidia’s DLSS “frame generation” is seen as an inadequate fix for deep-rooted problems.
  • “I do worry that devs are maybe rushing games out and then going, 'all right, the band aid will maybe cure it for now’...but this just seems like another drop in the bucket of another bad Unreal Engine 5 launch game.” (14:54)
• The game's heavy CPU usage is a major culprit, spiking usage to 100% and causing big stutters.
• This complicates both play and streaming (OBS streaming also requires substantial CPU).

- Console Performance & Accessibility

• Review codes for consoles (PlayStation, Xbox) only arrived at the last minute, so the team can’t yet compare PC issues to those platforms.
• Accessibility options in Borderlands 4 are called “laughable” for 2025, with only basic color changes rather than deeper features.
  • “For 2025 to have a section called Accessibility and go in there and for it to be as bare bones as it was… it was like, you know, just change the colors of things on maps… that’s not really what we’re talking about here.” – Greg (17:10)

- Community Input

• Listeners report motion sickness due to lack of an FOV slider, causing some fans to refund the game despite being long-time series loyalists. (16:51)

2. Borderlands 4 Spyware Controversy & Gearbox’s Response

[17:46–22:36]

• Gearbox issues a statement denying claims that Borderlands 4 uses spyware, referencing Take Two’s terms of service and explaining what user data is collected (mainly for compatibility and anti-cheat/piracy).
• Community concerns center on “Denuvo” anti-piracy/anti-cheat software potentially impacting performance.
  • Andy: “I hadn’t even considered... that this Denuvo anti-piracy software could possibly be ruining some people’s performance and adding extra hitches where there shouldn’t be.” (20:34)
• Mods are permitted in single player but not if they negatively affect multiplayer integrity.

3. Pokemon Home & Gen 10 Compatibility

[22:36–26:58]

• Breaking news: Pokémon transferred to future Legend Za titles cannot be moved back to earlier games, ending years of cross-generational compatibility.
• Greg is puzzled about the appeal of transferring Pokémon across games rather than “starting from the bottom” each time.
• Andy notes the main draw is competitive players and those deeply invested in min-maxing stats or building a living Pokédex.
• Community reaction frames it as losing access to cherished “pets” collected for decades.
• Corrections clarify: Pokémon from Za can enter Pokémon Home, but not go back to older titles (58:20).

4. Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic: Gameplay & Casting

[30:50–38:15]

• Neil Druckmann shares new details on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophecy in an interview with Variety.
• Promises “the deepest gameplay in Naughty Dog history,” building on Uncharted and The Last of Us, adding more RPG elements and wider, “sci-fi” scope.
• “Add sci-fi and you start to get a sense of what we’re doing. And then we’ve gotten even more ambitious than that.” – Neil Druckmann (31:23)
• Lead character “Jordan” will be played by Tati Gabrielle, who was also cast for The Last of Us Season 2.
• Troy Baker (Joel) and Tony Dalton (Lalo Salamanca from Better Call Saul, also in Hawkeye) are confirmed for roles.
• The team speculates guest stars from the HBO series may also appear.
• Andy is especially excited at the prospect of deep RPG systems and environmental storytelling potentially inspired by FromSoftware games.
  • “To see what a gameplay style like that, with the budget and time of Naughty Dog, what that can equate to, could be really exciting.” (37:49)

5. Battlefield 6’s Battle Royale Mode Announced

[43:31–49:36]

• EA reveals Battlefield 6’s new battle royale mode, coming to Battlefield Labs.
• Features: 100-player matches, 25 squads of four, destructible environments, vehicles, and a “shrinking ring” that instantly kills any player caught in it—no healing, no re-entry.
  • Andy: “This is where you really get me. I love the rush and excitement of a battle royale mode… this is a neat way to distinguish yourself.” (47:19)
• Class-based squads are locked in for each match. Guns, gadgets, RPGs, airstrikes, and custom loadouts span five rarity tiers.
• Hosts are excited to see how destruction and squad dynamics change typical BR gameplay.

6. AI Voice Acting Controversy in Tomb Raider

[49:44–52:04]

• French Lara Croft voice actor Francois Cadol sues Aspyr for allegedly using AI to clone her voice in remastered Tomb Raider games, without consent or proper notification.
  • “Go get them. Fuck those people. Fuck that. That sucks. Doing that… what a punch in the gut.” – Greg (51:21–51:32)
• Fans noticed and compared the “uncanny but worse” AI dubs, alerting Cadol. She expresses gratitude to the community for noticing and defending her work.
  • “Good job, fans. Yeah, good job, her. And knock it off as fucking bullshit AI garbage. Pay people to do their goddamn jobs.” – Greg (52:04)

Rapid-Fire News: “We News” Segment

[52:10–54:11]

• Slay the Spire 2 delayed to March 2026.
• Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy coming to Switch 2, Xbox Series, PC, PlayStation 5 in January 2026.
• PlayStation Plus titles announced: WWE 2K25, Persona 5 Tactica, Green Hell, The Invincible, and more for September.
• Breaking news: potential Fantasy League cheating scandal involving Roger and Mike.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Borderlands 4’s PC Issues:

  • “The most common refrain in the office was, Greg, that sounds like it’s about to take the fuck off.” – Greg (12:15)
  • “It doesn’t really seem like whatever machine you have is going to help out the situation a whole lot… That’s kind of the range we’re seeing.” – Andy (13:01)
  • “We had a not-great stream yesterday that was immediately cut off after we realized what was happening on the PC.” – Andy (12:38)
  • “You could drop shit to low or to high and you’re going to get maybe from 48 frames to 59.” – Andy (13:01)
  • “I assumed you have [the action figures] on the stand. You don’t have the boxes anymore. You’re wrapping them in tissue.” – Greg (04:59)

• On Accessibility in Borderlands 4:

  • “I thought the accessibility settings in Borderlands were laughable… for it to be as bare bones as it was.” – Greg (17:10)

• On PC Optimization Trends:

  • “I do worry that devs nowadays are maybe rushing games out and then going, 'alright, the band aid will cure it for now’…” – Andy (14:54)
  • “This seems to be just another drop in the bucket of here’s another one, another bad Unreal Engine 5 launch game.” – Andy (15:07)

• On AI Voice Cloning:

  • “Go get them. Fuck those people. Fuck that. That sucks.” – Greg (51:21)
  • “Good job, fans. Yeah, good job, her. And knock it off as fucking bullshit AI garbage.” – Greg (52:04)

• On Naughty Dog’s Ambitions:

  • “You can look at our previous titles and see the evolution… add sci-fi and you start to get a sense of what we’re doing.” – Neil Druckmann via Variety (31:23)

• On Battlefield 6’s BR:

  • “This is where you really get me… This is a neat way to distinguish yourself a bit more from other battle royales.” – Andy (47:19)
  • “The wall will insta kill you. I like that.” – Andy (47:40)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Borderlands 4 Steam/PC Issues: 08:46–18:02
• Gearbox responds to spyware claims: 17:46–22:36
• Pokemon Home cross-gen limits: 22:36–26:58
• Naughty Dog Intergalactic details: 30:50–38:15
• Casting speculation for Intergalactic: 38:15–43:31
• Battlefield 6 Battle Royale reveal: 43:31–49:36
• AI voice controversy in Tomb Raider: 49:44–52:04
• We News segment (quickfire updates): 52:10–54:11

Tone & Style

The hosts maintain their signature banter, sarcasm, and openness. They blend critical gaming analysis with community engagement and in-jokes about coworkers and games media. The tone is lively, occasionally irreverent, and welcoming to newcomer and veteran gamers alike.

Summary for New Listeners

If you missed the live show, this episode tackles the highly anticipated but technically troubled release of Borderlands 4 on PC, discusses the industry's wider struggles with Unreal Engine 5 optimizations and anti-piracy software, and raises questions about accessibility standards in modern games. It also explores the broader trend of AI voice replacement, major shifts in Pokémon transfer policies, and the biggest gaming news of the day—including in-depth anticipation for Naughty Dog’s next big creative leap. Battle royale fans get a detailed look at how Battlefield 6 is shaking up the genre, and listeners are treated to the usual dose of Kinda Funny camaraderie and unfiltered opinion.

(Advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections have been omitted to focus on the episode’s core substance.)