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[Theorry]

At a preview event last week, Gears of War 4 developer The Coalition revealed that the game’s campaign would have local split-screen co-op on PC. Technical director Mike Rayner told me adding the feature was a “labor of love,” and that they decided to do it after hearing feedback that people wanted it in Gears of War Ultimate Edition this March.

“From a development standpoint, it is quite difficult to support,” Rayner said, “we have to deal with multiple inputs, we have to deal with focus, we have to deal with UI placement.” That extra work—especially when having to also consider all the resolutions and aspect ratios a PC can have—may be why most big games nowadays don’t typically support split-screen co-op. Rayner continued by saying that “developers have got to put some effort into it to do it right, it’s not just something you can tack on.”

Additionally, the game can be played cross-play online between Windows 10 and Xbox One for the campaign co-op, Horde mode, multiplayer versus mode against AI, and multiplayer versus mode in private and LAN games. So while you won’t be able to jump into the same matchmaking queue as those poor souls who aren’t using a mouse to aim, you will be able to play with friends who don’t have the game on PC.

The addition of split-screen co-op on PC is pretty surprising, and another sign that The Coalition is taking the PC version of Gears of War 4 seriously, which is encouraging after the Ultimate Edition’s rough launch. We got to play a whole lot of Gears of War 4 on a 3440x1440 ultrawide monitor, and it’s shaping up great.

http://www.pcgamer.com/gears-of-war-4s-campaign-will-have-split-screen-co-op-on-pc/

 

[Forever Changes]

That's awesome.

 

[Dead_Pixel]

Amazing!

 

[batman2million]

woooot. I wonder how that'll affect performance though.

 

[Spacecowboy77]

Awesome!

 

[KainXVIII]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

 

[TheKeyPit]

Awesome.

Spoiler

But that 69,99€ price tag...

 

[Vuze]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Sure do

 

[sixteen-bit]

Amazing news. Any chance this hits steam like QB did?

 

[Bl@de]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Jup. Would like to play this too. But not going to happen with being a W10 UWP exclusive.

 

[Forever Changes]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Most games don't let you so no but ones that do? hell yea!

 

[KillerMan91]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

I know several people that didn't buy Halo 5 because it lacked split screen (and they had bought every Halo before that). Online co-op just doesn't have the same feeling as local co-op.

 

[T.O.P]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Hell yes, great news

 

[Succinct Verbosity]

Amazing news. Any chance this hits steam like QB did?

I've got a feeling that will depend on sales and the fact that The Coalition is wholly owned by MS rather than partnering with them like Remedy.

 

[Spacecowboy77]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Hell yeah.

I connect the computer to the tv and play co-op stuff there

 

[Caayn]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Yeah! I just started playing Minecraft splitscreen with my GF, I wish the W10 version also supported splitscreen. And play other games splitscreen every now and then with friends. Granted, it's not the most used feature.

 

[xzeldax3]

I always get annoyed when games have split screen but the feature is removed on PC (I'm looking at you Resident Evil 5). This is great news though!

 

[Trago]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Yes. And it's still awesome.

Was personally pissed when it was missing from Halo 5.

 

[KainXVIII]

Well, i understand that maybe its fun to play on couch in co-op on same screen, but reduced play view for each player and paired back graphics (and maybe framerate) is imminent..Stable netplay is more important (for me). But yeah, its good that some devs still support this feature, i guess =)

 

[The Citizen Kane of Games]

Yeah this is great news! I'm going PC only this generation and really missed the splitscreen fun I had on 360. Totally going to play through the campaign with my buddy who switched over to ps4

 

[Theorry]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Remember Reach.
Oh i mean Halo 5.

 

[Mufausa The 3rd]

Splitscreen online would be perfect. Black Ops 3 on PC had it and Treyarch even allows you to use dual monitors too. (2 players local-online can have their own screen to look at)

 

[robotrock]

Hell yes.

 

[Easy_D]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Of course. Especially now with people getting PC's to hook up to their TV. Splitscreen is great.

 

[Primethius]

This is pretty great news. Kinda contemplating picking it up now.

 

[thehillissilent]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Yup. This is helping to push me to buy the game.

 

[Theorry]

Splitscreen online would be perfect. Black Ops 3 on PC had it and Treyarch even allows you to use dual monitors too. (2 players local-online can have their own screen to look at)

That would be even better. Two screens. Hopefully that is possible also.

 

[family_guy]

This is what I was waiting for. Now I'm just curious if they would go the extra mile to do multi-monitor support where each player can have their own monitor.

 

[SillyEskimo]

Any stats on the number of PC splitscreen player percentages? I would think it would be incredibly low (like less than 1% low), but I am open to being proven wrong.

 

[CrAzY FiNgErS]

This is more icing on the cake for me! I love splitscreen co-op and multiplayer on PC. I don't even have to use a mod on this. Great news! My PC is an ITX and it's hooked up to an HDTV exclusively. Day one for me!

 

[LelouchZero]

Lovely! I love split-screen games!

 

[chillybright]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

I would in a heartbeat if I could.

 

[Theorry]

Any stats on the number of PC splitscreen player percentages? I would think it would be incredibly low (like less than 1% low), but I am open to being proven wrong.

Difficult to say. Not many games have it anymore. But people did miss in GoW: U wich is quite known for splitscreen. Dont think its so huge that i was a must. But like they said it was more a "labor of love" and some goodwill probably.

 

[Duxxy3]

Amazing news. Any chance this hits steam like QB did?

Zero.

 

[Crimsonclaw111]

Really a shame all the effort being put into this is going to still result in miniscule sales. The UWP platform is killing these games that would have otherwise been amazing.

 

[Stinkles]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Yes. As long as TVs are the primary display device, there will likely always be split screen demand. Monitors of course shrink that a bit, but don't eliminate it completely. Siblings, guests, friends at your house. If the game is fun for two or more players, then split screen is a significant benefit. Depends on the content.

However it is hard to do. We were disappointed to cut that feature on our last game due to tech, time and production constraints. As mentioned in the OP, it's not just perf - UI, networking and other issues all massively increase the footprint of potential issues.

 

[th4tguy]

This is great. Does anyone know if there is a family account option for xbox live store? I'd love to be able to play this coop on two different computers with the wife without having to buy two copies. We do this with our two PS4s.

 

[bede-x]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Most probably don't, but I love it and use it all the time. Earth Defense Force 4.1 is my title of choice these days.

lack of split-screen is why I didn't buy Gears Ultimate on PC.

 

[Takamura-San]

Instead of split screen it would have multi screen support. One PC , 2 players and 2 screens. I don't get why is this not a thing.

 

[brunomartynhak]

Amazing! Day 1 one for me!!

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Especially on PC:
- Adjust to your target performance
- TV or monitor or TV+monitor or two monitors
- Gamepads or M/K + gamepad

Instead of split screen it would have multi screen support. One PC , 2 players and 2 screens. I don't get why is this not a thing.

You can use Eyefinite + windowed mode for that. Not automatic, but it usually works with some effort

 

[golem]

Ultrawide support too? Nice work Coalition!

 

[Shikoba]

Wow really? That's awesome!

 

[JigglesBunny]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

Yup. My older brother played every Gears game (besides Judgement) with his friend on Split screen Co-Op but after skipping this gen of consoles, he figured he wouldn't be able to play Gears 4.

Well, because The Coalition worked to support the feature, now him and I will be able to play it together. Granted, we'll be playing the X1 version, but the point stands. Split screen is a feature many people love and utilize when available.

 

[Theorry]

Ultrawide support too? Nice work Coalition!

Jup. Looking good.

 

[TheRed]

Awesome, makes me a lot more likely to get it if it turns out good on PC. Would love to play through a Gears campaign with a friend again.

 

[MadGear]

That's actually cool. My friend will never buy anything from the Windows Store (he didn't even get the free update for Windows 10 because he is insanely wary of MS), but I'm glad that I'll be able to play the game with him this way.
But I have to admit, playing local multiplayer on PC is something I rarely ever do with the exception of fighting games.

 

[AndyMoogle]

People still playing splitscreen? (honest question). Especially on pc.

More PC games need local co-op. There is absolutely no excuse to not have splitscreen in the PC version when the console version does.

 

[Dictator93]

This is shaping up to be a great PC version of a game, now all it needs to do is ditch the UWP / UWA stuff and ship with a standard .exe!

 

[Chittagong]

Wow, awesome news. Definitely will buy now, need split screen coop games to play with friends

 

[paperspace]

That's great, but that's also what I'd expect if I'm paying the same premium price as the console game.

It still doesn't support HDR so I'm holding off for now.