People are playing Borderlands 4 early primarily because the PC version of the game was released 12 hours ahead of the console versions. Specifically, Borderlands 4 launched on PC at 12 PM Eastern Time on Thursday, September 11, 2025, while the console versions (PS5, Xbox Series X/S) were released at midnight ET on September 12, 2025. This difference in release time gives PC players a notable head start compared to console players. To summarize:
- The game does not have paid early access for any platform.
- The 12-hour early availability on PC is the only official way players are getting early access.
- Other than this timing difference, there are no known early access exploits or methods to play Borderlands 4 early on other platforms.
This early PC release time is why some people are able to play Borderlands 4 before others on consoles start.