Helldivers 2 thrives on chaos, teamwork, and the laugh-out-loud moments where friendly fire wipes half your squad. Naturally, a game that fun screams “couch co-op.” But here’s one question asked a lot by the fans: Is Helldivers 2 split-screen?
The short answer is no, not right now. But there’s more to the story, and it’s not all bad news, so here’s everything we know so far about it.
Does Helldivers 2 Have Split-Screen?
Currently, Helldivers 2 does not support local split-screen multiplayer. If you like to sit next to a buddy, grab a couple of controllers, and blast bugs, bots, or try to beat the deadly Hive Lord on the same screen, the game won’t let you do it.
Right now, all co-op is only possible online. You can party up with three other players to fill a four-person squad, be it your friends or random players through matchmaking. The only way to share a screen is to be in the same room and play on two separate systems side by side.
The split-screen concern is noticed by Arrowhead Game Studios as CEO, Shams Jorjani, has addressed it openly on the official Helldivers 2 Discord and in other community spaces.
- “Technically feasible” – Jorjani confirmed that adding split-screen isn’t impossible. The team could look into it.
- “On the list to investigate” – but, importantly, it’s just that: something they might explore, not something that’s actively in development.
- “Not sure if players really want it” – he’s admitted they don’t know if enough of the community is asking for couch co-op to justify the effort.
So, the idea hasn’t been ruled out, but it’s not guaranteed, either.
The Challenges of Adding Split-Screen in Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 already pushes hardware to its limits, even on current-gen consoles and powerful PCs. Running two viewpoints on a single machine would be brutal on performance. Think about all the particle effects, explosions, swarms of enemies, orbital strikes, and friendly fire chaos that make Helldivers 2 so much exciting are also what hammer frame rates. Asking one console or PC to render two versions of that mayhem at once is a big demand. Some Redditors even joked that the game barely runs as is, and split-screen would melt half the TV.
Some Helldivers swear couch co-op is part of the series’ DNA and miss the days of old-school shared screen gaming. Others argue that in today’s landscape, most players just want smooth online play and regular content updates, not a mode that could risk stability. Arrowhead seems to be listening closely to these debates. If demand is strong enough, the feature might come to the top of their priority list. But with ongoing work on Helldivers 2 performance improvements, bug fixes, and new content, split-screen isn’t front and center.
Another interesting hint from Jorjani is the idea of 8-player co-op, which has also been floated. He described it as “technically possible” but admitted it would be “cool and messy.” If you’ve tried coordinating four players without someone calling down an airstrike on their own squad, you can imagine how wild eight would be. Although it sounds hilarious, the devs have made clear that it would add massive technical and design headaches.
Bottom Line
As of now, Helldivers 2 does not support split-screen or couch co-op. Arrowhead also hasn’t ruled it out forever; they’ve acknowledged it’s possible, but don’t expect it anytime soon. If you want to spread democracy with friends, your best bet is to connect online.
Whether split-screen makes it into the game will likely depend on how much the community demands it and if Arrowhead can make it possible without affecting performance. Until then, the fight for Super Earth remains an online-only affair, but one that’s still a lot of fun with friends, even if they’re not sitting on the couch next to you.
