The Creative Director of Tom Clancy’s The Division, Magnus Jansén, speaks in an interview about The Division and the split-screen mode. Specifically: Why The Division will not support split-screen.
The Division is an MMO shooter with a strong focus on Coop. You can complete story missions together or explore the Dark Zone in a small group. However, this will only be available online – playing together on the couch in split-screen will not be possible.
Magnus Jansén explains in an interview with Finder why The Division has chosen against split-screen. It simply does not suit the nature of this game. You continuously improve your character in this game, allowing for seamless transitions between single and multiplayer. This is something that is best done alone, without split-screen.
The special thing about The Division is that the game world never pauses. There is always something to do in the open-world.
“You never stop playing.”
In a classic split-screen experience, there is a defined challenge that you can complete together and then finish. If your partner has to leave, you can go back to single-player and continue your game.
The Division, on the other hand, is a so constant, ongoing experience that it ruins the game to bind yourself to another person. That is why they opted out of split-screen. This allows you to freely immerse yourself in this world, where you can mess around alone or with online buddies.
However, there are also evident technical reasons why this mode was discarded. In split-screen, there are always losses in frame rate, detail, and rendering. Especially in the Dark Zone, it is advantageous to have the entire screen available to maintain overview.
In the end, Magnus Jansén admits that he is a fan of split-screen. After all, gaming together on the couch can be incredibly fun. However, this mode was simply impossible for The Division.
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