Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Multiplayer Discussion Deactivate forced Split Screen?

Hey,

is it possible to deaktivate the Split-Screen while playing couch-coop?

Like in Divinity 1 & 2: Shared screen while the party was together, but it was possible to split off at any time.


I bought the game cause of couch coop and the nonstop-splitscreen kind of kills it for me.

Are this planned to be fixed or are there user-mods to fix this?

Thanks in advance!

It is indeed game breaking for me, how it is implemented right now.

Divinity did the split screen stuff so well. I'm not sure why they removed those features from BG3. Have they given any reasons? Maybe it's just an oversight?

Playing on ps5. Haven’t found a way to merge screens except in cut scenes by hitting listen. Game is almost unplayable with local co-op. What a loss. You can choose to highlight characters in options with both circle and highlighting and increase font size of subtitles to help. Unfortunately even on a 52 two inch screen we can’t read the small text hardly at all, and most of the game is tiny text. Combine that with the split screen camera view and it’s really hard to tell what’s going on. Our first three hours were spent largely in confusion. Sometimes if I rotate both cameras on each screen just right I can do things like pick up a backpack or free a prisoner, of course that’s after picking up every other of the twenty items on the table.

Yeah our experience is the same. The game in its current state is very disorienting and it is difficult to see what's going on. It's massive bummer because Larian already solved this in previous games.

The current state of BG3's split screen is a massive downgrade and my girlfriend pretty much lost her drive for the game (even though she wouldn't shut up about it for the past couple months). Please fix this.

Please fix this please please please please. Please implement screen merge in proximity and in combat.

Yes, the splitscreen in DOS 1/2 was so awesome. One of my favorite features in those games. I love Baldurs Gate 3, but the decision to make splitscreen forced all the time is weird. Especially in combat it's not helpful and just confusing.
I hope this thread gets big.

Same here, we bought BGIII on PS5 but after 10 minutes we just stopped playing because of the forced split-screen. Playing like this it's just impossible, dynamic split-screen like in DOSII was just perfect, we really need that to play co-op. Does anyone know if Larian will include the fix in the next Hotfix or patch? Thanks

We played for a couple of hours and it's actually ridiculous how little of the surroundings I can remember from the play session. I barely know where we went, fights were very chaotic... all because of the split screen. It's just very disorienting and overall a poor experience. The game is coming out today on PS5 so expect many, many more people pointing this out. Baldur's Gate 3 has been heavily hyped in the community as a coop game but this is not nearly good enough.

The Forced Split Screen is SADNESS and Janky. When you are playing on the same screen and all the cut scenes are ONE Image it makes VERY little sense to be separated. Since we are playing the game together and are not there for the "Single Player" experience.

Hello everyone,

my wife and I were really looking forward to BG3, since we had already played through DOS 1 + 2 with great enthusiasm in couch coop.

BG3 itself is fantastic, but the forced split screen mode for the couch co-op really isn't an improvement over the other two games. I can only agree with everyone here: it's just too confusing and spoils the otherwise great fun.

So Larian: if you would still add this feature, you would surely make a lot of people happy and give us many, many hours to enjoy this side by side with our friends together!

Mongrel

Agree with every post on here. I wanted to add a further wrinkle: the UI in your character inventory is extremely small and basically unreadable. Another fix from DOS2 was that you didn't see your parties inventory, you would have to go to that character to view it. I know in single player on DOS2, specifically PC, you did see all inventories. That's great, but needs to be removed from BG3 split screen like it was in DOS2. It creates an extremely clunky and difficult UI to read. I'm on a paladin, I opened my tenant book, and was blown away by how small the book text was. There was no option to make it larger, or to overlay it, so I had to go sit up as close as I could to read the book, and it is like this with almost all reading options.

Maybe this isn't for this thread, but the fire is basically non existent as well. Very few flames actually appear, we stepped into what I guess was supposed to be fire 5-7 times and lost 50% of our HP. Some visual improvements, UI Changes, and dynamic split screen would be extremely great because right now couch co-op is a very difficult experience and is really pulling away from the immersion in a dramatic way.

Yeah, the text readability of books etc. makes me question whether Larian actually tested local coop on a standard-sized TV. It's one of the if not the smallest font I've ever seen on PlayStation.

We have stopped playing split screen with my girlfriend. We now pass the controller during combat and I do most of the exploration etc. alone, which is just sad. Funny thing is - it is still somehow a better coop experience, as being able to see what's actually happening trumps everything else.

Still waiting for Larian to tell us what happened here... I don't recall ever having such conflicting feelings about a videogame. It's such a masterpiece yet I can't enjoy it the way I was promised.

I wrote days ago about this to the support team but no one replied. A definitive answer from Larian on dynamic split-screen implementation would be appreciated. At least if the answer is no, we can put our minds at ease and move on to other games.

Waited 3 years for this game solely for the couch co-op feature. Needless to say, my wife and I stopped playing after 2 days because of how annoying this is to try and navigate.

I'm hoping this was just an oversight (although I don't know how) and that they remember Divinity and how it worked perfectly.

Same here. I bought it to have fun with my husband. We loved Divinity 1 and 2.
We both hate the forced split-screen. It makes things so confusing.
We stopped after the goblin fight. It was so messy. Why having a split screen on enemy turns?? Why player 2 can play an ally when player 1's turn is up? 'Why does the enemy die when I was choosing a spell? What? You killed the one I wanted to target on my turn?'
We loved how local coop was in divinity. What happened here?
And I bought it on PS5 so I can't get a refund.

throwing my hat in as well.

I would like a refund. We have tried to play this game with co-op and it is horrible. I have played Divinity and it was much better than BH3.

Everyone who are in support for the dynamic split screen/camera merge let's submit our feedback directly here: https://larian.com/support/baldur-s-gate-3#modal

Good idea, filled in a suggestion support ticket. We deserve to at least know.

Sure good idea, thanks, I did It too.

I did it too ! Great idea

Because like everyone said... it's too bad this forced split-screen ! espicialy during the combats !
And even with a videoprojector and so a huge screen, it's disturbing to have this split screen when you are closed from each other.
I hope Larian will have a solution and can add the same dynamic splitscreen which used in DOS1 and DOS2 !

I told my gaming group to hold off on buying this game until they have the dynamic / merged split-screen. We all loved how DOS1 and DOS 2 had it, and everyone was so excited for BG3 to have this as well. I was the first in my group to buy it not knowing this feature is absent. Please address this issue!

Nice, thanks for this link. I sent mine in and strongly suggest everyone else do the same.

Thanks, we all need to keep this thread on top.

Just created an account to write about this. I also wrote an e-mail to support:) Hopethey will anwsear soon:)

Does anyone know if it's possible to get a refund on this game? The forced split-screen is completely ruining the game for me. I bought the PS5 version assuming we'd get an experience like DOS, but it has become completely disorienting to play.

From the PlayStation Store Support: "...you have 14 days from purchase to request a refund. If you have started to download or stream the purchased content you will not be eligible for a refund unless the content is faulty."

All we can do is keep this thread alive until someone from Larian notices us. The lack of communication on the topic is getting a bit frustrating, not gonna lie.

Made an account to post, the split screen performance on ps5 has degraded significantly as we have progressed the game, We are approaching the end of act 1 and it is borderline unplayable. I have submitted 2 tickets in the last 24 hours about this but have yet to receive a reply. The game is fantastic split screen issues aside but the lack of communication from Larian is frustrating. Either inform us of a timescale for fixes or if it can't be fixed let us know so we can apply for refunds. I've bought this game to play co-op with my wife and it's frustrating to experience, especially since DOS and DOS2 had split screen well balanced.

Adding my voice. Bought the game in EA ages ago so no chance of a refund, but just don't enjoy playing forced split screen, it feels more like an MMO than a logo coop experience because you're always spit from the other player. Honestly it would be a better experience to play on 2 separate PCs, but that's not the experience I was hoping for. So many happy memories of sitting on the couch with my wife playing D.OS 1 and 2 and BG3 throws out that unique play style.

I really hope they fix is an add dynamic split screen in, otherwise the game is being left unplayed, which I never thought I'd say for a Larian game.

Patch 3 has just been announced, and it is coming on September 21. Let's hope Larian has included the dynamic split-screen with the merging camera. If anybody has some news on this, please give us an update.

At least that's something to look forward to, although something tells me it's probably not something that could be implemented with a patch.. idk but I'll be cautiously optimistic. Until then, let's keep voicing our opinion:

https://larian.com/support/baldur-s-gate-3#modal

Considering how targeting works with the stick and that players can act at the same time during the turn, I highly doubt they will add merged camera. DOS was different in this regard

I'm in the same boat. Did not get the PC version, as I wanted to play split screen with my wife on the PS5. While the splitscreen during wandering isn't terrible but certainly not preferable, since we are together most of the time. However, during combat it is horrible.

We're only a few hours in and it just feels off and makes things too confusing. We were expecting it to be like DOS 1/2 when playing together, and we're hoping they can patch it in, at least during combat.

I believe that the dynamic split screen should be exactly the same as it was in DOS 1/2. I don't see any reason why it would need to be different, as I don't see why targeting or having players acting at the same time might be an obstacle for the merging camera.
Additionally, I think the dynamic split screen could play a big role in improving the game's frame rate.

I wouldn't mind them getting rid of the simultaneous actions during combat. That aspect actually made it very confusing for me to understand who's turn it is. Basically, just make it EXACTLY like DOS1/2 with BG3 story...

I mean I get people wanting the merged screen, I would prefer it too, but for the ps5 they really need to focus exclusively on fixing the freeze lag bug that develops as you progress into acts 1-2 and probably redevelops as you progress into act3. 10-40s freezes on so many actions when there are two ppl playing and the analog stick targeting bug make the split screen coop playable actually questionable. Whereas the merge would be highly desirable quality of life.

I agree that both problems are important. Let's keep the thread focused on the original topic, please.

Yeah honestly for me some lag in act 2 is less of a problem since I'm still in act 1 waiting for the split screen to get fixed.

It is a pity that they left the co-op experience behind after such a long and expensive early access for anyone to participate. I hope they look after it in the next patch tomorrow or at least announce plans soon.

Let's trust Larian, given the size of the problem and the many threads discussing it here and on Reddit.

Wow. My people!

My wife and I loved DOS 1+2 and were eagerly anticipating BG3. Imagine our horror when we hit the first battle... We seriously thought it was a bug.

The split screen battle interface fundamentally breaks the experience for us. What used to be a fun, collaborative, very social way to spend an evening together is now a frustrating activity with much less teamwork. We might as well be playing the game separately.

Losing half the screen real estate is also a major bummer. We never had to zoom in and out in DOS 1+2, but we have to do that in BG3 in order to just see what's happening.

I get that they're trying to push this quasi-real-time two-go-at-once mechanic but we don't care. We don't want to go at once. Our very best moments in DOS were when we disagreed on the next action and would sit and debate what to do next. We were really hoping BG3 would deliver more of that. We'll just have to play DOS 1+2 again!!

So glad that quite possibly the biggest request based on feedback from multiple platforms got fixed with this patch. Thanks a lot Larian for once again forgetting how couch co-op is supposed to work.

Is there any communication from Larian on this? I bought BG3 for PS5 just for split screen co-op and expected it to be like in DOS2. Should I wait for shared screen implementation (not forced split screen)?

No fix with patch 3 and no answer for when or if the problem will be fixed. We tried everything to have our voice heard here and on Reddit, but nothing happened.
Just uninstalled the game.

At this point I'm just going to wait for them to allow PC/PS5 Cross multiplayer. At least they said they would work on that unlike the split screen issue.

Bummed out they fixed several hundred things but didn't even address this.

That being said we've been enjoying the game on PS5 following this Reddit thread. Essentially you play without splitscreen but with two player made characters and assist controller enabled in accessibility settings (it is no longer in beta like in the thread, this feature is now available to all).

Pros: you get beautiful game, combat works exactly like in Divinity, dialogues are immersive, romances etc. still work for both characters

Cons: you have to take turns with who is exploring etc. BUT you both hold a controller and can switch to your characters with just two clicks.

I know it might sound crazy... and it is definitely no excuse for not having a proper split screen.. but we already played 35 hours like this and we're finally having fun. Is it perfect? No. Is it hundred times better than the botched split screen? Hell yes.

What’s going on? Why won’t they acknowledge this is a major issue? It’s really frustrating that they won’t even say something as simple as “we hear you”

Thanks for the idea. For some reason I didn't think of it

Cool idea and is definitely better than what they have given us. I just hope they (Larian) don't realize this and decide they don't have to give us a proper couch co-op like in the Divinity games.

That said, while tempting to try, I don't think my wife or I will enjoy this. Having one person go up to a certain point, only for the other to then take over and follow won't feel right. Part of the enjoyment was exploring together and searching different areas within the one fullscreen. If one person goes at a time, they will just clear out the area before the other goes. Kinda defeats the purpose.

Give it a try. You're still together as a group, you show up in all the cutscenes (unlike in split screen where half the time only the person who initiated the dialogue is) etc. I too thought it must be terrible when I first read that thread, but the two controllers make all the difference as it feels like you're both playing all the time.

Thank you for your suggestion and for your help, it is much appreciated. We tried it in the past and it's a small step forward, but unfortunately, it's still far from the DOS real co-op experience, where the beauty of it lies in doing different tasks at the same time. I consider myself already out since I uninstalled the game, but I'm still curious to know why Larian didn't say a word about it. Furthermore, they recently updated the Dual Sense key command guide in BGIII by deleting the indication of the down arrow as the command for merging the camera, like this function was somehow to be included but now it is completely deleted.

Gave it a try, but it's not for us. We honestly don't feel like we are playing together. It feels like one takes a turn and then the other goes. That's perfect for combat, but it's clunky during exploration.

I too read this about the down button at one point was reported to do what it did in Divinity. It clearly can be done and was slated to be in there, but now we deserve to know why it was taken out.

How do you start a single player campaign with 2 custom characters?

You simply start a new game as a split-screen game, both of you create your characters at the same time, you go through the intro cinematic etc. and then you disconnect the second controller – both characters are now controlled by player 1 but they both function as player characters. We already tested romance, I successfully romanced one character and my girlfriend another – it tracks approval etc. based on who's the active character that initiated a dialogue etc.

You can obviously use any older split-screen save as well, just load in without Player 2 joining.

It's not perfect and sometimes I wish my girlfriend wasn't looting every god damned barrel... But being able to enjoy combat like in Divinity and never miss a dialogue is worth it for us.

We tried that approach but we couldn't quite get used to it. Instead we've adopted a different method now. We have the assistant controller occasionally log out allowing us to enjoy the atmosphere or explore without interruption. When it's time to get back into the split-screen action we simply reactivate the second controller and we're immediately back in the game. Fortunately we don't have to reassign the party every time; the game remembers which characters were in use which is quite convenient

Ah gotcha didn't think of disconnecting from split screen. Hopefully PS5 will let me choose that the same account is using the second controller as the assist controller when I reconnect it. I'm definitely for full screen gameplay. Thanks!

I gotta say, for a company that's gotten such praises for listening to player feedback, the lack of simple options like "create a single player campaign with multiple custom characters" or "make dynamic split screen" or "allow camera inversion" and them not even acknowledging it is just baffling.

You need to enable assist controller on PS5 here: Settings > Accessibility > Controllers > Use Second Controller for Assistance

Also reconnecting the second controller for an occasional split screen like @BG3NF suggested sounds like a good idea.

I agree the lack of communication from Larian on this topic is ridiculous. I understand there's a lot of bugs to iron but they could at least say whether it's something that's ever getting a solution.

Is this issue not inherently tied to the addition of a 3rd person camera to BG3?

Like how would shared splitscreen work if either character went to over-the-shoulder?

In DOS2 only one player could control the camera when the screen was merged. It worked great =(

With this method, could you essentially connect the 2nd controller when you want to split up and then when you meet back up, disconnect the 2nd controller and play as a single merged screen? This almost sounds like a workaround for split screen merging if that's the case. And if it really is that easy, no idea why Larian won't just implement split screen merging themself.

Larian has not responded to this at all since its PC release despite multiple fans from DOS 1&2 days raising concerns on multiple separate threads on multiple different platforms, along with its lack of ability to invert camera controls on controllers.

It's becoming painfully obvious that the PS5 version was an afterthought and was rushed out simply to compete with Starfield.

I'd love to know who they have testing this game because it's obvious they are incompetent. You can't have over 1000+ fixes in one patch and then turn around and have yet another 1000+ fixes in another and say with a straight face that you actually tested this.

It is clear that we are still too few to arouse even a response from Larian. The problem of forced split-screen does not exist for them. Either this thread sees a real surge in participation or it is better to let it go.

The problem here is that only a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of players will even seek out these forums... I really thought going here and commenting on posts that concern this is going to do something... But I'm convinced at this point that Larian does not even visit their own forums.

So many people don't care about sending feedback to Larian, despite all the problems they may encounter... so they should listen to the few who do. I don't enjoy being here, checking these forums every day for 2 weeks. I do it because apparently I'm naive enough to think that if this keeps getting bumped we're going to get a reaction. We do for free what Q&A should be doing. The least we could get is acknowledgement.

I've sent a support note to Larian myself - generally they don't reply, but I presume they get thousands, if not more (!), it can't hurt!

It is an awesome game, and just sooo great that we even have split-screen, indeed many of the additional features/tweaks I personally think are fab. But I agree, the lack of a toggle to go between split-screen and not would be really appreciated.

I would hope that they do occasionally have a ganders at their own forums here. who knows?

A shared-screen toggle really would be useful.

Books are also unreadable in split-screen mode. By permitting a full-screen mode this would make it sooooo much easier to read them (they could also just show a single page of the book at a time, but go figure ;-p )

Pease, the books are just ridiculous in split screen. Lost the motivation to even read them with the minuscule fonts. Also impressive that there is no option to adjust that in the menus. Combine that with all the split screen bugs before patch 3, I think it just shows that the coop was not really tested before launch. Only thing we can do is to keep complaining I guess.

I would agree except for the fact that these complaints are not just here. Along with the 4-6 different threads here alone on this subject, I have seen people complaining about this on Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter as well.
There is no way someone from Larian is not aware of this issue, and that makes it even worse that they are avoiding the subject.

I just want to add my own voice. I also player D:OS 1 and 2 in Local Coop, and want to do so again with BG3. Since I play alone before that, it took my brother to tell me, he cannot find a way to get full sceen in coop.
It just sucks. They should make an option to disable acting at the same time in combat, if you prefer having a full screen instead.

Whenever I see demand for shared screen, I'm adding my voice, too.

My wife and I spent like half an hour exploring then we had our first combat, still in forced split screen, we gave up and requested a refund from Steam.

We will gladly but only purchase it again with shared screen enabled.

I agree with some people here that the couch co-op for this game wasn't worked on enough to be ready for release.

The dynamic split-screen is the biggest indication of this of course. But also:
- Reading books (not notes) in split screen is a pain. We get an open book that doesn't take advantage of the horizontal space and we are left with super tiny text.
- When both players are handling inventory at the same time and one decides to apply a Filter or Sort, something happens that affects whatever the other player is doing at the same time (i.e. They were trying to select an armor and suddenly the pop-up window closes)
- There's not a proper way to handle cut scenes. They seem to be handled completely separately for each player, and me and my partner have missed parts of them because they initially only show in one player's side of the screen.

Anyway, going back to the dynamic split-screen... For me that's the biggest problem! Especially in combat!!
I must say that I don't really like the decision of allowing players to do things simultaneously. I think it goes against the idea of TURN-BASED combat.

I hope that this design choice isn't the reason why we are getting the forced split-screen. Because if it is, I think it was the wrong call.
It's a step away from turn-based combat, and people who fell in love with turn-based games (especially the D:OS series) are the ones getting hit the hardest.

I remain hopeful that all of this will be addressed eventually, but Larian not saying anything about this makes me worry a bit.
My partner and I had been waiting for this game for years, expecting at least the same level of co=op experience as in D:OS, but so far this experience has been worse.

I joined this forum just to chip in on this thread. I also filled out an official request.

I heard ppl say that two people bring able to do things simultaneously is precisely the reason why we have this perma-split screen situation. Personally I couldn't care less about simultaneous actions. Give us the big screen couch co-op experience!

Agreed! If that truly is the reason we are stuck with this awful permanent split screen, then Larian screwed up big time. Just go back to how it was done in Divinity.

No one was asking to be able to fight simultaneously with their partner. Turn order based on Initiative and turn based mean exactly that. You go when it's your turn. Not when it's your party's turn.

Another day, another bump from me. I'm going to try out the controller disconnect method.

Larian, if you're out there, please help us. It's unfortunate that couch co-op, something I think as a studio you have mastered, is the worst way to experience this game.
Save us Lari-Kenobi, you're our only hope.

Agreed! My wife gets lost pretty easy, and the graphics really take a hit just like VR does by having to draw the scene twice for each player. I wouldn't be super annoyed by everyone having to stick together.

I don't know about you but the way I see it, the reason why there is no merged screen in combat is because you can choose what party member goes first if their turns are one after another.
It only gets worse when all 4 characters are right next after another. Explain how would you solve that problem in merged screen with two controllers basically playing at the same time.

It was easy in Divinity, you wait your turn, when it comes, you control the screen.
That can't be applied to Baldurs Gate 3 unless you are willing to give up on mechanic where your can chose who goes first in chained order. I personally, am not willing to give up on that. It's a great mechanic and often times it created some unexpected advantages that I couldn't have if say, my buffer was 4th and damage dealer is 1st. I could just swap it for buffer to cast buffs on my party, even if it technically goes last... It's wonderful mechanic that Divinity didn't had.

You solve how will that work with two controllers on 1 screen, and then we talk about merging. Come on it's not a rocket science... right...

It's definitely not rocket science. One player can push a button on the controller to yield so that the other player within the chain order can go first with full screen control. The other player can push a button to yield and the full screen control will be back to the other player in the chain order.

Is this a joke? Is the same as if you are playing alone, just change to the character you want to play first.

Exactly, it's just like one person playing alone, at any time, the single player is controlling just one character, right? So whoever that character is assigned to, that person gets to play this character.

Also, this feature can be set as an OPTION to choose from, so people who enjoy playing simultaneously can choose to do so, and others can choose to have merged screen and waiting in turns.

I've given up playing the game on split screen. The game freezes and is nauseating because it's forced split screen all the time. Has anyone had any luck getting a refund? I contacted the playstation store but they won't give me a refund because I played more than a couple of hours.

They did away with merging split screen, swapped out cumbersome yet effective toolbars for annoying wheel selection, made the inventory text super tiny, but hey, I have the option of five different penises and three different vulva. /s

I have to say I am pretty disappointed. I have faith that Larion will address these issues and based on what I've come to understand their past games have done the couch co op correctly so I will not seek a refund. I bought another copy of this game for PS5 and a new PS5 controller specifically to play couch co op with my fiance and within minutes we experienced the camera bug. I was a bit perplexed as to why I felt like the forced split screen was terrible but after reading everyone's comments it appears I'm not crazy and it actually is simply terrible.

Please Larion, fix these problems I beg you. It took great courage to convince my fiance we could play a game together. It's very rare that I am able to motivate her to try a game with me, only to fall flat on my face with immediate game breaking bugs that require tedious fixes. I don't even currently have a 3rd party member to swap to so I can temporarily fix the camera problem.

The biggest issue for me is that it's tough to navigate and explore when the surroundings are divided into separate screens. Details easily get lost, and it can be disorienting to try and remember where everything is. This can really disrupt the immersion that Baldur's Gate 3 is known for, and it detracts from the overall experience.

My suggestion would be for Larian to consider incorporating an option for a single screen during combat encounters as well as close proximity couch-co op. This could help alleviate the chaos and make the game feel more cohesive and enjoyable. At this rate, its unplayable. I love my CRPG's, my twin absolutely hates them. I bought the game for us yesterday on PS5, and he LOVED IT. Spend 2 hours on his dragonborn, created a background for him and even decided on the style he wanted to play. THE moment he experienced the split screen, it became frustrating. He loved the combat and found it strategically compelling and immersive but I could tell from him question what even was on the screen that it wasn't going well for him.

Would love if they touched this up.

I don't have faith that Larian will address this issue, given that they haven't said a single word about it this whole time while patching nipple covers and $h. Baffling for a company being so highly praised for listening to players. Do they even read this board?

At this point I doubt any company reads their own OFFICIAL boards. Everyone seems to think Twitter/X is the go to for official information these days.

The Larian community management team do indeed keep an eye on these forums to see what we’re talking about, but they’re mainly for players to connect with each other and other than official announcements they don’t post much here. This may already have been said in this thread, but while reporting bugs here can be great for seeing if others have come across the same problem or if there’s a workaround, the way to report them to Larian is via their support site. There’s a Report a Bug link on the game launcher that will take you to the right place.

My experience from reporting bugs myself is that the support team do get back eventually, but are snowed under so it could take some time.

Split screen did not get as much attention as other parts of the game during its development. Split screen wasn't even available during the entire early access period so there was no time to listen to community feedback. Whatever happened during development, split screen is available to us now and we should be making ourselves as loud as possible to Larian that we want a better experience. This thread is one of the most active ones in the forums right now, we need to keep it going if we want Larian to address this.

To any Larian employees reading the thread, we want to have the best experience possible when we share this game with the people in our household. Many of us recognize the monumental effort that went into the game, and we feel gutted that the couch co-op experience is not as good as it could be because of the forced split screen. We're only going to get one chance to experience this game for the first time with our loved ones, and we know that you can do better because you've done better in your previous titles.

This is the most frustrating part of it all. They know how it should work as they did it in both Divinity games.
It's almost as if none of the devs working on BG3 even heard of Divinity with this decision to make split screen full time.

Yeah, I bought the game expecting split screen to be as good as Divinity OS 1 and 2. Honestly at this point I regret the purchase. It's still a fantastic game, but I have other games I play single player, or online. We wanted an experience we could play together, spending hours sat on the sofa having a shared experience, and currently this game isn't it.

My own fault for breaking my 'never pre-order a game' rule.

I’m a little confused about the complaints about split-screen. I’ve played over 200 hours of couch co-op with my husband and we are loving it. My only issue with it is that it can be buggy but hoping that gets patched eventually. I don’t think it was ever promised that split screen would work like DOS. Does it make that much of a difference?

Yeah it's night and day, especially if you have played DOS. It's one of those things where you don't know what you're missing if you've never experienced it. I'm glad that you are able to enjoy the game though. Maybe we were all a bit spoiled by the dynamic split screen that we have grown to love from Divinity series.

Agreeing with labpluto123 here. My wife and I sunk 341hrs into DOS2 and dubiously assumed that the couch co-op for BG3 would be identical. We assumed so much that we went out and dropped money on a PS5, an extra controller, and BG3. With taxes it came to $700+, which in today’s economy is an investment, just shy of two car payments.

But beyond just a game, we saw this as an opportunity to reconnect and spend time with one another. We have an 18 month old, and are so tired at the end of the day, we just do our own thing (like reading next to each other), or we go straight to bed. We looked forward to getting proverbially balls deep into D&D and BG3 together.

I myself might be able to get used to the split screen, but my wife definitely cannot (first-person views in any game make her sick, for example). She isn’t a dedicated gamer as much as I am. Also the text size at times is way too small for both of us, and we have a 52inch screen. We’re in our forties, we don’t have the best eyesight, even with glasses. None of these problems were had in DOS2.

Yes, our situation is very similar. We also come from the DOS era so it was clear to us that co-op in BG3 would be just like that. Give me one damn reason why it shouldn't be like that!
I never thought it would be the way it is but it is what it is.
We had very outdated tech in our household, a PS4 and a 32'' TV. BG3 was the main reason to upgrade our tech. We bought a PS5, a second controller and a new TV. I initially wanted a 48'' TV because I'm not a fan of really big ones but in the end, we went for 55'' since that seems to be the new standard. Luckily, we opted for the larger TV!
I can't imagine playing this game in couch co-op on a smaller TV without rearranging the living room. I know from many games that it's usually safe to wait another six months to a year until the game runs as it should. Well, in the future I won't be preordering games from Larian anymore and if there's a DOS3 or something similar, I'll wait and see first.

What is gradually but undeniably incensing me is the fact that the game has been out for a while and there is no communication regarding future update plans or how priorities are being addressed. that sucks!

Is the issue that you can’t see enough of the environment in split screen? I do find the text when reading books to be too small.

Yes, while exploring, the split screen hides the surrounding area. If both of you like to stay close to one another, then both screens become redundant with visual info and thus confusing. Also, during combat, the split screen doesn’t give nearly as good a layout as DOS2 did. Basically load your game with just one controller, single player. That’s how you could make it look but with both players dickin’ around on the same screen. You then had the option to split off and run wherever you want, auto-engaging the split screen. One player could start a battle far away from the other player, and then once that other player ran over and joined in the battle, the screen would auto-merge again, and you could see the entire battlefield, without any visual redundancies.

My apologies if you played DOS already and I’m explaining the obvious.

Yup, and like I and many others have said, it worked perfectly. There was ZERO reason why they had to make it the way they did in BG3.

to be honest, i'm actually on the extreme, i wish (even in DOS) that there were no split screen at all lol, and that the screen is always merged.

One might argue, well, when the other characters is leaving the small area, the split screen has to be engaged, but optionally, sure that's something i can sacrifice such that both parties always stay in the same area. (In DOS2 this might not even be possible as I remember there were plots where the characters have to be separated), so I don't have any hope for this to actually happen (because there would be major design changes), all i'm saying is that, my perfect scenario would be Diablo-like always merged screen.

But realistically, an optional merged screen just for combat is not too bad, right? After all, all the characters are in close vicinity with each other.

Haha actually now that you mention this. If I had to pick between 100% forced split screen or 100% forced merged screen, I would much prefer the merged screen. That's the point of Co op , is to stay together!!

So I have given up on the notion that Larian is going to ever do anything about this topic. My wife and I started as a split screen co-op just to have 2 custom characters and we transitioned into a single player campaign like others have already suggested.

1. start split screen with 2 custom characters
2. I turned my controller off
3. turn the controller back on as an assist controller
4. enjoy a completely full screen experience

The only minor con of this approach is that whoever is the assist controller doesn't get free movement of their character at the same time as the main player's. But having tried both this and the split screen co-op, this is such a better experience. There is no split screen during exploration nor battle, and whenever there is a dialogue both of us fully engage in that one dialogue that's happening and make decisions together. It's a shame players have to find a workaround to actively avoid a "feature" that locks players into a worse experience. And also a shame that Larian does not seem to be hearing this issue or just not addressing it at all.

wait a sec, the always merged screen is actually my preferred way to play it, ignoring turning-the-controller-off part, i'm so gonna try this.

Thanks for the tip.

Hey man!

I wanna copy that playstyle, because the forced splitscreen is annoying to me as well.

Unfortunately i can't really figure out how that works according to your steps.

How do I make an assist controller? It just opens the splitscreen for me always.

Would love to play it like you described it with my wife.

Thank you in advance!

No problem! I hope more couples/couch coop players get to enjoy this otherwise excellent game (barring inability to change x/y camera axes) in full screen. You may need to enable assist controller setting in PS5 first.

0. Make sure your PS5 has the latest firmware update because this feature only became available with the last update.
1. Go to your home screen and select Settings > Accessibility.
2. Select Controllers > Use Second Controller for Assistance.

Then

3. Once you start a split screen game, whoever turned your controller on after the other person in the beginning hold the PlayStation button in the middle of your controller for about 10 seconds -> this will power off your controller
4. Turn the controller back on
5. PS will ask you who is using the assist controller. Select whoever's account it is that logged into PS5 home screen

Then try out the assist controller. It's basically like having 2 main controllers that can move and click things at the same time but since this is a turn based RPG it works rather well. I'm having my wife do the exploration while giving her hints in terms of where to look. In battle she controls her own character and Wyll and I control my character and Shadowheart. Hope you enjoy!

I saw this workaround a few weeks back and gave it a try. While it can work, it just wasn't enjoyable.
We should be able to run around and explore at the same time, and this method has one of us just standing around while the other explores. Not the same experience as DOS.

I agree. It's definitely not the ideal experience. It's a shame Larian is forcing us into this vs. perma-split screen. I have my own playthrough that I started before starting a new playthrough with my wife so I'm content letting her explore and experience the game for the first time while I provide commentary on the side lol. I'd much rather have the full screen. Not sure why Larian doesn't understand this sentiment.

Any improvements with this new patch?

Time to call time of death on our request. It's obvious they have no plans to make this work properly.

looks like no.

The official release notes:
https://baldursgate3.game/news/patch-4-now-live_96

I used "Ctrl + F" to look for keywords such as "split", "local" or "fullscreen".

So I just submitted another ticket for merged screen:
https://larian.com/support/baldur-s-gate-3

Anyone is welcome to submit one so the devs will know the demand is there. Thanks!

Yeah, seems like there were a bunch of fixed issues for split screen but no option to merge it. Very disappointing. I have submit a request already but never got an answer.