Borderlands 4 Story Length: How Many Hours Until You Can Sit Back and Relax?

What to know

• Borderlands 4 launched on September 12, 2025, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, with a Nintendo Switch 2 version following on October 3.
• The main campaign features 25 story missions, taking 20-30 hours to complete if you focus solely on the narrative against the dictator Timekeeper.
• Side content expands playtime to 50-60 hours, while full completion—including collectibles and endgame—can exceed 100 hours.
• You control one of four new Vault Hunters in a seamless open world across four regions, emphasizing co-op and emergent humor.

You've just blasted your way through the first few missions of Borderlands 4, and already the pull of Kairos' wastelands has you hooked.

Released just yesterday on major platforms, this entry refines the series' formula with a more grounded tale of resistance, sharper traversal mechanics like grappling hooks and double jumps, and a world that feels truly alive without loading screens.

With that amount of dynamic landscape and a lot to explore, the game is humongous, and you do need to grind for hours to make every moment count.

Apparently, on Reddit community forums, Borderlands 4 users have shared their grind and time predictions, with one stating that it can take approximately 30 hours to complete the story, considering its difficulty and open-world dynamics.

However, the time taken to complete its story depends on gamers' grind, determination, and explorational mindsets. Let's delve into its time breakdown, signaling campaigns, quests, and the  completion of the game.  

Expect 20-25 hours to complete the main campaign

Picture this: You're a fresh Vault Hunter dropped onto Kairos, a planet fractured by the Timekeeper's iron rule after a cosmic mishap with Pandora's moon Elpis. The story kicks off with recruitment into the resistance and unfolds across 25 main quests, each designed to ramp up the stakes with boss fights, faction alliances, and lore drops about ancient alien vaults.

To complete the main campaign efficiently, Follow the critical path without detouring for side quests or exploration. Use normal or easy modes reduce enemy toughness, speeding up progress. Additionally, Teaming up can make combat quicker, shaving off a few hours. Lastly, avoid extra tasks within missions to maintain momentum.

Adding side content stretches playtime to 40-50 hours

If you mix in a moderate amount of side quests and open-world exploration, expect your playtime to increase significantly. A natural playthrough, where you tackle some side missions and engage with the game’s seamless open-world regions—Fadefields, Terminus Range, Carcadia Burn, and Dominion—typically takes 40-50 hours. This approach balances story progression with the game’s humor, loot hunting, and world events.

How to extend your play time in Borderlands 4

To extend your playtime without going all-in, you need to pick high rewards, explore areas, participate in world events, and experiment with builds, as stated below:

Step 1: Pick high-reward side quests: Focus on missions offering unique weapons or story insights.

Step 2: Explore key areas: Each region has dynamic events and loot caches worth checking out.

Step 3: Engage in world events: These quick challenges add variety and loot without long commitments.

Step 4: Experiment with builds: Try different skills or weapons to enhance your experience.

Completionists can go all way up to 100+ hours!!

For players aiming to see everything Borderlands 4 offers, the game becomes a massive time sink. Completing all side missions, collectibles (like 340 logs, Vault Symbols, and echo logs), world events, and endgame content can take 100-170 hours.

This includes reaching max level, grinding for legendary gear, and tackling higher difficulty modes like Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode. For instance, unfogging the full map takes about 2 hours, while achieving 100% completion, including all collectibles, adds 10-20 hours beyond the Platinum Trophy requirements.

Borderlands 4 gametime in a gist

Borderlands 4 offers a flexible experience tailored to how much time you want to invest. A quick 20-25 hour campaign suits those eager to face the Timekeeper, while side content and exploration can easily push you to 40-50 hours. For dedicated Vault Hunters, the 100+ hour grind for full completion delivers endless loot and chaos. Plan your playthrough based on your goals, and dive into Kairos with a sense of adventure.