Polygon’s interview with the Loveless the Hacker designer reminded everyone why Borderlands works when it works: the gun feel is exact, the writing is loud in the right spots, and the co-op sends you home with three friends and forty stories. Borderlands 4 leans harder into vertical traversal and the skill trees are the deepest in the series, but eventually the credits roll and the drop rates start feeling stingy. That is the moment you want a shortlist of Borderlands 4 alternatives on PC.
We tested seven Borderlands 4 alternatives in 2026. All of them are looter-shooters on Steam that keep the “one more run for a better gun” loop alive, several add co-op, and one or two do something genuinely different with the formula.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Co-op | Free | Loot depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destiny 2 | Long-tail seasonal loot | 3-player | F2P core | Very deep |
| Warframe | Loot plus movement | 4-player | Fully F2P | Very deep |
| Helldivers 2 | Chaotic squad co-op | 4-player | Paid | Shallow but sticky |
| Remnant II | Souls-like looter-shooter | 3-player | Paid | Deep |
| Outriders | Bullet-and-power fantasy | 3-player | Paid | Medium |
| The Division 2 | Cover shooter with builds | 4-player | Paid | Deep |
| Deep Rock Galactic | Class-based cave crawls | 4-player | Paid | Medium |
Why players leave Borderlands 4 for a while
The endgame Mayhem tiers push players into the same handful of guns. World tier scaling can outpace drop generosity, and the loot filter never really replaces reading every legendary that hits the floor. Solo runs are viable but not what the game is designed for. And after a few dozen hours the humor lands less consistently, which for many is the tell that it is time to swap.
The picks below split the reasons cleanly: co-op-first, loot-obsessed, and shooter-first. Match your reason to the pick.
The 7 best Borderlands 4 alternatives
1. Destiny 2 — best overall
Destiny 2 is the looter-shooter Bungie has spent seven years tuning. Gunplay is the best in the genre, weapon crafting gives you a real say in perk rolls, and the seasonal loop keeps the vault refreshing without feeling like a treadmill. Post-Frontiers, the new-player experience finally makes sense on the first login.
Where it falls short: The story is deep enough that first-year players feel dropped into a novel at chapter 40. Some rare drops are still locked behind grindy activities.
Pricing: Free-to-play core; recent expansions in the $40 range. New Light onboarding is free and generous.
vs Borderlands 4: Tighter gunplay and a deeper endgame; less unhinged humor and less loot volume per hour.
Migrating from Borderlands 4: No importer, but the mental model transfers. Turn on the compass, start Onslaught, and you are back in a “chase the roll” loop within two hours.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: If you want the platonic ideal of a modern looter-shooter and do not mind a paid expansion, this is the pick.
2. Warframe — best free option
Warframe is the free-to-play everyone underrates. Movement is the star: you slide, wall-run, and bullet-jump through missions in a way no other game touches. Loot lives in the mod system, in Warframe frame variants, and in weapons you level to rank up mastery. It rewards patient players with hundreds of hours of content.
Where it falls short: The onboarding is famously overwhelming. First 20 hours are you nodding along without understanding the systems.
Pricing: Free-to-play with cosmetics and time-saver purchases. No paywall on progression.
vs Borderlands 4: More movement freedom, more content, deeper loot system; less physical gun feel and less humor.
Migrating from Borderlands 4: Complete the main quest through Second Dream before you decide if the game is for you. Do not judge it before that mission.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Free, huge, still updating. Skip only if you refuse to invest the ramp-up hours.
3. Helldivers 2 — best chaotic squad co-op
Helldivers 2 replaces the loot loop with a “one operation, four Helldivers, everything is on fire” pattern. The gunfeel is heavy in the best way, friendly fire is on by default, and stratagem call-ins deliver more comedy per session than most sitcoms. Progression comes in warbonds; loot depth is thin next to Borderlands but the moment-to-moment fun is off the charts.
Where it falls short: Loot chase is thin. The war-map metagame can feel remote from your run.
Pricing: Paid, priced under a full AAA release; warbonds add cosmetic and weapon sets over time.
vs Borderlands 4: Better squad chaos; less item variety and shorter runs.
Migrating from Borderlands 4: Bring three friends. Pick difficulty 4. Learn the reload cancel. You will spend the first ten hours laughing and the next hundred min-maxing loadouts.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The 2024-2026 co-op standout. Pick it if the reason you play Borderlands is the people on Discord with you.
4. Remnant II — best loot-plus-Souls
Remnant II crosses looter-shooter with Soulslike bosses. Every weapon has a mod slot with a real active ability, every boss drops a unique weapon or trait, and the class archetype system rewards dual-classing after your first playthrough. Third-person perspective changes the feel but the loot chase is close to Borderlands in shape.
Where it falls short: Difficulty spikes are real. Bosses gate the campaign until you learn a pattern.
Pricing: Paid, roughly a standard $50 tag; the DLC expansions are meaty and priced fairly.
vs Borderlands 4: Deeper build variety, more meaningful bosses; smaller world, less loot volume.
Migrating from Borderlands 4: Bring one friend and pick complementary archetypes. Reroll adventure mode after the campaign to farm bosses; that is the “endgame.”
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Best pick if the boss fights in Borderlands feel too samey and you want each one to matter.
5. Outriders — best pure power fantasy
Outriders is what happens when you pull the class powers of Diablo into a third-person shooter. The pace is aggressive: healing is tied to killing, cover gets you killed, and each class has genuinely different playstyles. It is a completed game with a proper expansion and a lower price than it once had.
Where it falls short: Not free-to-play, and the ongoing content pipeline slowed after the expansion.
Pricing: Paid; regularly on sale at a fraction of launch price.
vs Borderlands 4: Faster pace, more melee-adjacent combat; less humor and smaller weapon variety.
Migrating from Borderlands 4: Play the class that maps to your Borderlands preference (Devastator for Amara, Trickster for Zane). World Tier scaling works differently: push it fast to see the real drops.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The best “one weekend, one campaign, no MMO grind” alternative on the list.
6. The Division 2 — best cover-based looter
The Division 2 slows the pace and asks you to think about positioning. The build system is deep enough to support hundreds of hours; the raid content stands with the best of the genre; and Warlords of New York gave the game a proper second act. Regular events keep the world from feeling dead.
Where it falls short: The setting is grim and not for everyone. New-player onboarding is dense.
Pricing: Paid, often deeply discounted; the essential Warlords of New York expansion is bundled in most modern editions.
vs Borderlands 4: More thoughtful combat, deeper build variety; less over-the-top humor and slower time-to-fun.
Migrating from Borderlands 4: Rush the campaign to unlock the endgame Specializations and then start optimizing a build. That is where the loot loop really opens up.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Pick this if you liked the shooting in Borderlands but wished the combat asked more of you.
7. Deep Rock Galactic — best class co-op
Deep Rock Galactic trades gun variety for class identity. Four dwarves, four kits, one procedurally generated cave every mission. Ammo is scarce enough to force teamplay, and the “Rock and Stone!” chant is the closest thing PC gaming has to a friendship handshake.
Where it falls short: Solo is fine, four-player is where it sings. Loot progression is unlocks-driven, not drop-driven.
Pricing: Paid, priced under a modest AAA release; frequent free seasons keep it fresh.
vs Borderlands 4: Tighter class identities, better co-op design; smaller loot chase.
Migrating from Borderlands 4: Play through Hazard 3 to learn each class’s toolkit. Do not skip the promotion system; it is the meta-progression.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The class fantasy game Borderlands players secretly wanted all along.
How to choose
- Pick Destiny 2 if you want the smoothest gunplay and are willing to learn a big story.
- Pick Warframe if you want the biggest game for free and enjoy learning systems.
- Pick Helldivers 2 if the reason you play Borderlands is your Discord group.
- Pick Remnant II if you loved the boss fights but wanted each one to matter.
- Pick Outriders if you want a complete, one-weekend power fantasy.
- Pick The Division 2 if you want a cover shooter with a serious build system.
- Pick Deep Rock Galactic if class identity matters more to you than loot chase.
- Stay on Borderlands 4 if the humor and gun-count-per-hour are why you show up.
FAQ
Are any of these games cross-play with Borderlands 4?
No. Borderlands 4 has its own cross-play network. Cross-play matters more for the alternatives themselves: Destiny 2, Warframe, and Helldivers 2 all support cross-play across the platforms they ship on.
What is the closest game to Borderlands 4 in tone?
Deep Rock Galactic is closest in the “we are here to have a stupid good time” mood. Destiny 2 is closest in the loot-and-shoot mechanic.
Is any of these fully free with no gotchas?
Warframe is the honest answer. Destiny 2’s core is free but expansions add up. Everything else on the list is a paid purchase, often deeply discounted.
Which one has the best solo experience?
Remnant II and Outriders both work fully solo. Destiny 2 is playable solo but most of the memorable content is squad-shaped.
Are any of these on Steam Deck?
Deep Rock Galactic, Remnant II, Outriders, and The Division 2 are Verified. Destiny 2 and Warframe run but need small tweaks. Helldivers 2 has community fixes; it can run but is not officially supported.
