Split-Screen in Black Ops Cold War: Availability, Use-cases, Issues, and more

Call of Duty has proudly dropped the latest addition to the famed franchise — Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War — and gamers all around the world are already munching on the hours of adrenaline-pumping action it delivers.

As per the norm, the new Call of Duty game comes with an all-inclusive Zombie mode, which, for the first time ever will feature free post-launch content. With all these exciting features in-store, many are eager to give the latest Call of Duty game a go.

For console gamers, especially the ones who like to play with their family, there’s another aspect to consider before the purchase of a new console game — split-screen gaming. Today, we’ll take a look at split-screen gaming in Cold of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and tell you what you can and cannot do in the game.

Is Split-Screen available in Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War?

Yes. As of game version 1.04, you can play split-screen mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. With split-screen mode, you and your friends can take advantage of your local game setup to play multiplayer matches in Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War at once without needing to log in to another console.

Which platforms support Split Screen mode on Black Ops Cold War?

Split-screen mode on Black Ops Cold War is available on all major gaming consoles where the game has been released. This includes:

Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Xbox One S/X
Xbox Series S/X

Sadly, there’s an omission of one platform that COD fans dearly wish the game hadn’t omitted.

Can you play Split-screen in the PC version?

If you’re reading this, we’re sorry to break this news for you. Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War doesn’t let you take advantage of Split-screen mode when you’re playing the game on your PC. This is in sharp contrast to the game’s previous Black Ops titles, all of which included a Split-screen mode when playing the games’ PC versions.

What this means is, as long as you buy the console edition of Black Ops Cold War, you’ll be able to get a taste of Split screen to play games locally with other friends around you.

What Split-screen options do you get in Cold War?

In Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the split-screen in the multiplayer mode has both vertical and horizontal splitting options.

If you choose to split your screen horizontally — top and bottom — you’ll see black paddings (bars) on the left and right of your screen. The other configuration — left and right — would create black padding on the top and bottom portions of your screen.

How many players can play in Splitscreen mode?

Until now, the split-screen mode on Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War only allows 2 players to play at once. Gone are the days of those classic 4-way split-screen windows which would allow you to see yourself and three of your friends to play the game on one screen.

Is Split-Screen available in all online modes in Cold War?

The split-screen mode works differently in various modes of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

Single Player

The single-player campaign, as the name suggests, is for a single-player alone. You cannot tag your friend or family along with you on the journey. No split-screen mode here.

Multiplayer Split Screen

In multiplayer, the split-screen mode finally comes to life. You can engage in versus mode in split-screen mode and take the fight to your couch partner. This mode can bring out the worst of the competitive side in people. So, be sure to find a compatible partner first. Two players

Zombie Split Screen

The Zombie mode, as we all know, is an absolute fan favorite, and there’s nothing quite like the feeling of annihilating Zombies left and write with someone you have the most fun with. Unfortunately, the Zombie mode in Call of Duty doesn’t let you play in split-screen mode even when the option presents itself.

After you go online, you do get the split-screen option (at the top of the screen) to connect another controller to your console — both Xbox and PlayStation — but the game refuses to let you play in Split-screen.

The answer to your doubts is – Yes, Split-Screen is available in Zombie mode online. No, it’s not playable at this moment.

Is Split-Screen available in all offline modes in Cold War?

Since the single-player campaign is strictly for one player alone, we aren’t considering this game mode in this section.

Multiplayer Split Screen

The multiplayer mode allows you to play the versus match completely offline in split-screen mode. The only requirement here is the latest version of the game. So, make sure you update your game, and you should be good to go. A maximum of two players can play in split-screen at any point in time.

Zombie Split Screen

The Zombie mode does not support split-screen in offline mode. You will get the option to add a second controller when you take the game online, but the game doesn’t get off the ground — as of version 1.04.

Since we can practically spot the split-screen option in the game, it’s likely that the developers would fix the issue with a patch in the coming weeks.

In which match mode can you take advantage of Split Screen?

If you’re wondering which match mode is most enjoyable when using Split-screen, it’s most definitely match modes that just includes you and your friend pairing up with each other. While you can use Split-screen to assist and locate your teammate in Domination, Team Deathmatch, and the VIP Escort, perhaps the best use-case for Split-screen is the Gunfight mode.

That’s because Gunfight is a 2 on 2 multiple-round match which pairs you up with your teammate against two other players and you’re required to win a series of matches with different guns in each of the rounds. Split-screen will prove to be helpful in this instance as you will be able to locate your teammate, assist them, see where they were killed, and help them get to you with ease.

Gunfight mode, however, isn’t an already-available match mode but it’s expected to come to Cold War pretty soon.

Split Screen in Black Ops Cold War: How to make it work?

The split-screen mode basically splits your display — TV, for example — into two separate screens, allocating a slice each to the users. You can get the Split Screen for any supported game mode within the game lobby screen. To do that, launch Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War on your console and select a game mode you want to play in Split-screen.

Inside the game lobby screen, you will see an option for Split-Screen with the key/button associated with it (‘X’ on a Playstation, ‘A’ on an Xbox). Press the button or key that is mentioned and if another controller is connected to the console, they can be added to the lobby as well.

Split Screen in Black Ops Cold War: Issues you may encounter

While split-screen mode has been made available for all console players of Black Ops Cold War, there are a bunch of issues that users are facing at the moment.

Performance issues with split-screen: Activision itself has acknowledged that players are experiencing frequent lag and game crashes when split-screen is enabled.
Glitches when showing elements in split-screen: Some players aren’t able to completely see some elements that they should otherwise be seeing in split-screen. Take a look at this instance.

Now THIS is black ops cold war’s split screen. from blackopscoldwar

Split-screen option doesn’t appear for some Xbox Series X users: While PC users cannot completely access the Split-screen, owners of the Xbox Series X aren’t able to get this option to work on their consoles, even when support for split-screen is available for them.
Zombies mode in Online still doesn’t work with split-screen: As many of the users have pointed out online, split-screen is yet to work when selecting the Zombies game mode. The option appears on the screen when the mode is selected but nothing happens and the game starts as a single-player.

Whats up with split screen on cold war? from CODZombies

Game crashes within minutes with Split-screen enabled: Coupled with the performance issues, the Split-screen mode also appears to have rough gameplay with people reporting crashes within minutes into a match.