How long will Borderlands 4 take to beat?

Set in the chaotic world of Kairos, Borderlands 4 takes the four new Vault Hunters - Vex, Rafa, Amon, and Harlowe - and pits them against The Timekeeper, a mysterious antagonist who leads the new faction across all four regions of Kairos. Like previous entries, players must take on side quests alongside the main story quest to progress through the story of Borderlands 4. While you can end the game once the story is done, many veterans would want to hunt down every single mission available, collectible, and post-game content across Fadefields, Terminus Range, Carcadia Burn, and Dominion.

All these factors contribute to how long it takes to complete Borderlands 4. So, to answer the question, the time it takes to complete the game depends on how you play it. If you take your time going through the world, it’s easy to spend 100+ hours in the game, whereas you can finish the campaign in under 30 hours.

Main campaign length

You can finish the game in 25-30 hours, with the sole focus on the main campaign and not getting distracted by side content (Image via Gearbox Software)

Borderlands 4 is not designed to be rushed; this chaotic world is specifically designed to be enjoyed, explored, and immersed in its insane humor. But if you are only interested in the main campaign, the game has a similar length to its predecessor.

Going with steady gameplay, solely focusing on the main campaign and not getting distracted by side content, you can finish Borderlands 4 in 25-30 hours.

While rushing through the story seems like the fastest way to beat the game, Borderlands 4 offers a lot more content if you explore the world.

Also read: Borderlands 4: How to farm bosses for Legendary gear (Moxxi's Encore)

Main story and side content (The general experience)

In classic Borderlands fashion, side content is often more enjoyable than the campaign itself. Thus, exploring Kairos and unlocking all sorts of strange side quests is crucial for a complete experience of Borderlands 4.

While it's not always possible to unlock all side quests, a balanced mixture of campaign and side content will take you somewhere around 50 hours.

If you manage to find all side quests, faction quests, hidden vaults, and NPC arcs, it can take 60-65 hours to beat Borderlands 4.

With the vast open world of Borderlands 4, it is natural to explore every corner and come across random world events and mini-boss encounters, which will slow down progression while increasing the exploration experience for your Vault Hunter.

Also Read: How to get your first vehicle in Borderlands 4

Borderlands 4 100% completion

The estimated time to 100% complete Borderlands 4 can be well around 120-125 hours (Image via Gearbox Software)

For some players, 100% completion is the target irrespective of the game. And Borderlands 4 is an enormous undertaking. Acquiring all collectibles across Kairos, like Vault Symbols, Echo Logs, Lost Capsules, Electi Safes, and all Marcus Bobbleheads, can easily add 12-15 hours. Completely exploring Kairos can take 100+ hours to finish if you include all the main and optional boss encounters.

Adding the two new Story Packs and map regions included with the Super Deluxe Edition, the estimated time to 100% complete Borderlands 4 can be well around 120-125 hours.

Even after beating Borderlands 4, there is a ton of content available to players in Borderlands 4, giving the game a massive amount of replayability. This includes:

Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode - You can replay quests at a higher difficulty and get access to better quality rewards.
Big Encore and Wildcard Missions - These introduce weekly challenges with unique modifiers and objectives.

Borderlands 4 is a completionist veteran’s paradise, as it’s a world packed with collectibles, interesting locations, and hidden enemy encounters, and it keeps you on your toes with its humor.

Also Read: How to send gear to Bank in Borderlands 4

Multiplayer and replayability

You can play Borderlands 4 solo, or you can play it with friends in a co-op mode, which is great for farming resources and gear across Kairos.

If you are also planning to play with all four Vault Hunters (six with the Super Deluxe Edition), you can easily replay the entire game, quadrupling your in-game time.

Total estimated playtime summary

Main campaign only: 25-30 hours
Main campaign + all side missions: 60-65 hours
100% completion: 80-100+ hours (base game)
With DLCs/endgame grind: 120-200+ hours

Also Read: Borderlands 4: All Fadefield Vault Key fragment locations

So, how long does it take to beat Borderlands 4? The correct answer would be as long as you want to play it. In an open-world game like Borderlands 4, you can easily power through the campaign and be done with it in under 30 hours, or you can gather every collectible and explore everything Kairos has to offer and spend 200+ hours in the game.

Read more articles on Borderlands 4 here:

About the author

Jagaran is an MMO and ARPG writer at Sportskeeda. His involvement in the gaming industry also includes working as a concept artist and as a narrative designer.
At age of nine, Halo: Combat Evolved kicked off his love for the medium. He looks back fondly on the times he visited cyber cafes, watching the older boys playing the game and shouting, "Master Chief!"
If given a chance to inhabit a game world, he would eagerly jump into the breathtaking world of Halo.
He admires Ben "CohhCarnage" Cassell for his engaging dialogue and gameplay as well as his critical thinking regardless of how much he loves the game, which encouraged him to spend countless hours in games and technically analyze them.
In his free time, he enjoys writing books, cooking, sketching, and the occasional game of football.

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Edited by Adarsh J Kumar