If you’re a gamer who enjoys playing games in your living room with your family or friends, you’ll be disappointed by the omission of split-screen play in The Division
The Division only allows players to team up with friends (or strangers) and doesn’t allow for the possibility of split-screen play which has left some gamers feeling disappointed, given that the game allows for squad gameplay. The biggest factor though for the modes exclusion is due to players needing to transition seemlessy between single-player and online play, including when players enter The Division’s PvP area, the Dark Zone.
Speaking to Finder.com, The Division’s Creative Director Magnus Jansen said, “One of the biggest reasons why there is nothing like that in The Division is because of the progression nature of the game. Being able to seamlessly move from single, to co-op, to online with the same character that you are always improving, is something that you want to do on your own. You don’t want to be tied to whenever another player wants to quit.”
“In your classic splitscreen experience, there is a defined challenge to overcome, whether it be racing a lap around a circuit or completing a mission,” Jansen continued. “But the challenge in The Division is always ongoing; there is always something to do in the open world. There’s a new mission, or new people to group up with, so you never stop playing. So having your co-op friends able to just drop-in, but when they need to go off and do their thing you can continue playing, is good as you are not bound to them. I think that suits The Division. It’s such a constantly ongoing experience, that when tying you to someone else, splitscreen just makes it messy.”
He concluded by stating that it was for technical reasons why Ubisoft were unable to add split-screen to the game, despite Jansen being in favour of it. “But there are also obviously technical reasons. For example, how much can we put on the screen when you move into the Dark Zone and run into other people? There’s also issues when online in regards to profiles, as well as rendering. So while I like splitscreen and it would have been really good to do, we were unable to do it for this game.”
The Division