‘We can never get rid of that’
One of the earmarks of Xbox’s biggest shooters is the inclusion of local cooperative play. Both Halo and Gears of War have had split-screen options tracing all the way back to their respective franchise’s origins. Developer 343 Industries omitted split-screen from Halo 5 last year, and the decision was met with an overwhelmingly negative response. Gears of War 4 won’t suffer that same fate.
In an interview with Game Informer (and as reported on by GameSpot), Gears of War 4 head Rod Fergusson confirmed that the game will have local co-op via split-screen. What’s more, Fergusson explained that the feature will be available for every single game mode, from campaign to multiplayer. “We can never get rid of that,” he commented.
However, it comes with a minor concession. Instances of split-screen running mean that the game will be toned down to 30 frames per second. This won’t be an issue in the campaign, as that was always set for 1080p/30fps (like Gears of War Ultimate Edition); the multiplayer runs at 60fps, so that will effectively be halved to make it work via split-screen.
It won’t be long before we see the effects on multiplayer. Microsoft is holding a technical beta later this month to test Gears of War 4‘s servers with a large player base, and split-screen will presumably be available for this. Those who don’t mind sacrificing frame rate will get a little help from their friends.
Rod Fergusson Answers Your Gears of War 4 Questions [YouTube via GameSpot]
