Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War - How To Play Split-Screen Multiplayer

You can take on multiplayer modes in split-screen both online and locally in Black Ops Cold War, but enabling the feature is a bit unclear--here's what you need to know.

Step 1: Sign In A Second Controller

Before you get going on Cold War, you're going to need a second controller. On the second controller, sign in to an account on your console. On either the PlayStation or Xbox console families, you can sign in with a guest account, rather than one tied to either the PSN or Xbox Live. That'll work in some variations of multiplayer, but note that you can't use a guest account to play online--using one restricts you to local play.

If you mean to play online, make sure to sign into a Xbox Live or PSN account on the second controller. You should also note that you'll need a separate Activision account to play online, which you can set up or sign into when you load up Cold War.

Step 2: Set Your Orientation

Cold War allows you to adjust your split-screen settings, orienting the split either horizontally (so the two screens are stacked on top of one another) or vertically (so they're side-by-side). You can adjust between the two in the Graphics settings menu, so check on that before you commit to a multiplayer game and find yourself disoriented.

Step 3: Switch Between Online and Offline

When you get to the main menu of Cold War, you'll see the options to play Campaign, Multiplayer, Zombies, and Dead Ops Arcade. Way down at the bottom of the screen is the info you're looking for: The setting that flips between online and offline play. You should be able to toggle this with a single button on your controller.

Switch to offline mode and you can load into the multiplayer lobby of your choice, one that can't be filled with other players from the internet. In offline mode, you can play split-screen against another player using a guest account on your console.

Step 4: Head To The Lobby

In either case, once you're in a multiplayer lobby, look for a prompt on the right side of the screen telling you how to sign in for split-screen. Like the switch between online and offline, it should be a single press of a button to switch to split-screen. That'll automatically add the player on the second controller to your in-game party, as well.

If you're searching for an online game, the rest of your lobby should fill as normal once you pick which kind of match you want to take on (and in Zombies, once you start the scenario). In local play, you'll load right into the game, but of course, it'll be a little empty. Pick a smaller map to compensate for this.