Why do PC games never have Splitscreen????

[WyntrHeart]

I have 2 Xbox 360 controllers. I have a TV. I have friends. I should be able to play splitscreen. But for some bizarre reason, every dev on the planet has decided that PC gamers can't have splitscreen. Why not?

Whenever my friends come over and I hook up my PC to the TV we have to either play emulated console games like Smash Bros and Mario Kart, or take turns playing singleplayer. The only PC FPS that supports splitscreen without hacks/mods is Serious Sam which I'm not even a little interested in playing. Come on people!! PC is supposed to be the gaming master race, why are we missing such a basic and fun feature?? Am I the only one that wants this?

[marks]

So we had Black Ops 3 working with both Steam controllers (both with gyro aiming!).
This required enabling Mouse-Joystick to work.

We were starting to have a lot of fun with it on the couch (split screen coop).

However, something changed and now both controller gyros move the same guy (left screen). :-(
It's way harder to play, and my kids are giving me a hard time about fixing it.
Is there a controller setting that needs tweaking so each controller can independently move a split-screen character?

Note: each controller mostly moves a single character, it's just the gyro aiming that is broken (both controllers aim the same person).

Thanks!

[NissanThanNice]

The Steam controller is new, why you have kids playing(i'm imagining 5-10y/os) is beyond me but i'm pretty sure it's a setting either in the game or the software for it! I can do research on google but you can as well so how about we both look...

[NissanThanNice]

another thing I remember serious sam 3 having a setting for split screen where everyone press a button on their conrtoller or keyboard to play so look for something similar to that...

[Ireane]

so the controls dont go all wonky

[NissanThanNice]

Never had an issue with SS3 serious sam is better than cod of course in my opinion but BLOP3 is keeping split screen gaming alive which is great. left 4 dead i heard you have to mod for it to work. and from what it sounds like you might have it mapped via keyboard and mouse thats a danger for multiplayer (locally for controllers especially) thats why your having issues try setting them up for Xinput you know the ABXY LB LT RB RT setup... Of course I don't own steam controllers but most controller setup software appears to work the same so start there keyboard and mouse the game WONT DIFFERANIANTE THE DIFFERENT CNTROLLERS it work the first time probably cause you didn't start the game after saving the settings. don't worry I'm sure the Dev for call of duty set it up so all you have to do is identify your controller as xbox so its easy breezy. And this way Player one will be player one and player two as player two so on I used ps3/4(as in 2 ps3 controllers on serious sam split and Ps3 and a ps4 controller because my friend had a ps4 controller before me at the time and we played MK10 with that said never tried Ps4 and PS4 controllers at the same time) and it worked great...

[PAPRIKA]

M9

[1hty]

Best split screen -> PONG

[RSS Dave]

I think it happens because with the advent of internet, being able to play with a person that is thousand miles apart from you is a more attractive than being able do split-screen. And its easier to find someone to play online with you than someone in your own house.

[Agent_Ash]

The situation has actually been changing for a while. For example, Resident Evil 5 doesn't have split-screen and RE6 does. So the console games that have split-screen now often have it on PC too.

However, FPS games aren't supposed to have a split-screen feature. This is a PC-born genre and it never had split-screen. Split-screen is a bonus for console players who like FPS, something to compensate for inferior controls and to bring more arcade-like feel into the game. I don't think shooters should have split-screen and I don't see shooters as a party/couch type of games. If I have friends over I'd much rather play an arcade game and leave shooters for online multiplayer.

[NickTheNESHero]

I disagree with Agent Ash. The splitscreen issue stems from technical limitations of both consoles and PCs.

Consoles have always been social, something can play alone or with friends. Whereas PCs are solitary. Yes, you can play online, but aside from LAN parties, you'll rarely be physically next to the people you are playing with. Consoles didn't start to have real online play until the 6th generation (PS2, Gamecube, & Xbox) and it wasn't standard until the 7th. So, splitscreen was a way to emulate the feel of online play without actually being online, not emulate the feel of arcade shooters like VirtuaCop and Time Crisis (which never used splitscreens anyway).

PCs never needed splitscreen because of online play, and also because of technical limitations. As someone who plays both PC and consoles, I can tell you that consoles are (ounce for ounce and dollar for dollar) more powerful than PCs, at least until the end of a console's lifespan. (Yes, high-end rigs are more powerful than the Xbox One or PS4, but you cannot get a rig as powerful as those consoles for $500) So, consoles are able to handle splitscreens whereas your average PC can't. Adding splitscreen to the PC version of a game like Battlefield or Call of Duty would be foolish, since a the majority of potential customers couldn't run splitscreen, and would have no reason to do so even if they could.

[inc2000glw]

Well u can. Just buy 2 of everything.

[NissanThanNice]

Actually PC's can. It's just as you said "People usually play Game consoles as a joint thing where Splitscreen is great." So when you think about it more it's because splitscreen was more popular on Consoles VS. PC so developers focused local multiplayer on consoles vs PCs It has nothing to do with hardware limitations that could only be true compare PCs to eachother Example My friend as a GTX960 in his computer (desktop). and i have a ATI 7650m in my laptop. What should be done is developers restricting splitscreen to hardware specification vs not developing for it theres games DOES in fact include splitscreen natively and theres games that DOES have splitscreen with modding obviously you're wrong to an extent but right to another hardware isn't the reason though.

[marks]

Split screen PC games are fantastic with the Steam controller.
I play them on the couch with my kids (COD, Rocket League, Magica, ...)
The PC is in the attic. (thank goodness for WOL - so I can unsuspend directly into steam from the couch)

My kids have their friends over and do the same. I'm not a PS4 expert so I'm probably missing something, but the PC/Steam experience seems to be a lot better and more functional.

[ali-iova]

PC have splitscreen only on casuals games, for example, Awesomenauts have splitscreen. Idk, many casual games on pc have this function, lmao.

[Marcus]

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