Borderlands 3 Will Feature Split-Screen Local Co-op on Consoles Only
In the week since PAX East, Gearbox has made a huge number of announcements. Not only have they revealed Borderlands 3, but the studio has released two trailers, announced a release date and upcoming gameplay reveal, and more. The studio also announced (and subsequently released) Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition. One of the most unusual features announced, however, is that there will be Borderlands 3 split-screen local co-op; a feature which has all but died out in recent years. However, the feature will only be available on consoles.
Borderlands 3 Split-Screen Local Co-op will be Exclusive to Consoles
In the wider context of the current video game market, the announcement of Borderlands 3 split-screen local co-op is highly unusual. Almost every major franchise has abandoned this feature in favour of purely online multiplayer. Indeed, games with such a feature are exceedingly rare these days. However, the announcement does fit with Gearbox’s history. Borderlands: The Handsome Collection featured 2-4 player split-screen local co-op, for example. In fact, the new Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition also features split-screen local co-op, even though that wasn’t a feature in the original game.
A brief glimpse was given of 2-player split-screen co-op during the most recent Borderlands 3 trailer. While the other Borderlands titles allow for up to 4 players on split-screen (admittedly, at a significant cost of frame-rate), Borderlands 3 will only allow for 2 at a time. Additionally, Kotaku UK reports that the feature will only be supported on consoles.
In an email statement, Gearbox says; “Borderlands 3 will support two-player split-screen on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One”. It’s not entirely surprising to see PC excluded from that list. Firstly, split-screen co-op is traditionally a console feature, albeit one that has become increasingly rare. While it’s a little surprising to see Gearbox include the feature at all, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to PC players that it won’t be coming to PC. (Although, it’s certainly possible that Gearbox could bring it to the PC version post-launch if there’s enough PC players asking for it.)
Fans will get their first chance to see Borderlands 3 gameplay on the 1st of May, though it’s unknown if Gearbox will be showing off split-screen gameplay on that date or at some point in the future.