Since its console debut with 2005's Call of Duty 2, the Call of Duty franchise has offered split-screen gameplay to its fans. Over time, this split-screen support has went from 4-player split-screen to just two, though players have the option of jumping online with their split-screen companion. With the vast majority of other games abandoning split-screen entirely, those who enjoy the feature have appreciated Call of Duty's commitment to it, though Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's use of split-screen is unfortunately the worst it's been yet.

Treyarch has completely botched split-screen implementation in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Perhaps this is due to the game's restricted development time, brought about by a change in lead developer and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Maybe it's due for other reasons entirely. But regardless of why Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's split-screen is bad, there's no denying that it has massive issues that make it basically unplayable in its current state.

RELATED: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Player Proves That Flak Jackets Are Still Too Strong

Here are all the reasons that we noticed with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's split-screen feature so far, but keep in mind that there may be even more issues plaguing players that could be tied to the mode.

Rocky Launch

When Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War first launched, it was unclear if it even had a split-screen option for multiplayer. The usual prompt of pressing a button to add a split-screen player was nowhere to be seen, though some reports online indicated that a workaround was possible. Regardless, Treyarch did not make it easy for Call of Duty fans to play Black Ops Cold War split-screen at launch, and it was just recently that it was added to the game in a more obvious way.

While there is some dispute as to whether or not Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War multiplayer supported split-screen (it seems Xbox Series X users were completely out of luck, but mileage may vary), there's no denying that the feature was completely absent in Zombies mode. The lack of split-screen in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies was a point of contention among the community, with many voicing their disappointing at its absence online.

The big Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season 1 update finally added split-screen to Zombies, and it also made the feature far easier to access in multiplayer as well. Now all players had to do across all versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War on console was simply press a button to start playing in split-screen. Unfortunately, Black Ops Cold War's split-screen woes didn't end there, as the addition of split-screen has brought with it some other issues that will hopefully be ironed out in future patches.

Black Boxes

black ops cold war split screen issues

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare split-screen is exactly as one would expect. It splits the screen in half, giving each player half of the TV screen to work with when playing any of the game's many split-screen modes. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, on the other hand, decides to further limit each split-screen player's television real estate. Split-screen already shrinks the screen, so it's frustrating when even more of the screen is taken away.

When playing split-screen in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, each player gets less than half of the screen. Two big black bars are on either side of each screen, plus there are thinner black bars above and below as well. Essentially, this boxes each player's gameplay into a much smaller window, which in turn makes it more difficult to see things and read the text, which is shrunk to the point where it's difficult to make out, even on a 65-inch 4K TV.

Some other games have botched split-screen like this in the past, and there's likely development reasons as to why this is done. However, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare doing split-screen the right way, fans are a less likely to be sympathetic when they realize Black Ops Cold War's split-screen looks the way it does.

Major Technical Issues

If Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War players decide that the black boxes they have to deal with are not a deal-breaker for split-screen play, the next step is actually playing a match. If they were expecting an experience on the level of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, though, they will soon get a wakeup call. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War split-screen multiplayer is incredibly laggy, to the point where some matches feel downright unplayable. It makes enjoying the game in split-screen virtually impossible, which is a real shame as split-screen usually runs great in most other Call of Duty games.

RELATED: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's Aim Assist May Be A Tad Too Strong

The other issue players will likely encounter when trying to play Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War in split-screen is crashing. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War game crashing has long been an issue, with it being caused by various factors, like having ray-tracing enabled on Xbox Series X. Split-screen is just another way for one's Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War game to crash, so fans should keep that in mind when trying to use the feature.

Lobby Errors

call of duty black ops cold war split screen issues

If players manage to get through a game of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War in split-screen, they will run into some major obstacles trying to get into an other match. For one reason or another, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War does not like keeping split-screen players grouped together after a match, often booting one out of the game. And then when players attempt to start a new split-screen match, the matchmaking will fail repeatedly, booting players out of the match and hitting them with different kinds of lobby errors.

There may be another workaround, but one way to fix this problem is to close the game completely and open it back up again. Obviously, it's not very convenient to have to do this after every single split-screen match, and so hopefully Treyarch is able to implement a fix sooner rather than later.

Invisible Men

call of duty black ops cold war split screen issues

After completing a match in split-screen and getting booted back to the library, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Operators will usually appear invisible, with guns floating in there. If players manage to get into another game right after completing a split-screen match, then the invisible character problem seeps its way into the actual match itself, with guns floating around with no visible person holding them.

This particular issue seems to correct itself after getting into another match, but it's still frustrating for those trying to enjoy Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War split-screen. This problem was apparent in numerous game modes that we tested, ranging from Prop Hunt to the Nuketown 24/7 playlist, so it seems to be yet another problem tied specifically to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's split-screen implementation.

Hope for the Future

Right now, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's split-screen is in a sorry state. It has severe technical issues that cause characters to become invisible or make the game crash. It's a massive disappointment to those who still use split-screen, especially since the Call of Duty games have traditionally had generally well-implemented split-screen game modes, as recently as 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

But just because Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War split-screen is messed up right now doesn't mean it can't be fixed in a future update. The developers acknowledged fan demand for split-screen by adding a proper split-screen mode to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's Zombies, and so it is aware that fans want the feature. Considering this, maybe Treyarch will fix Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War split-screen over time, though no plans to that effect have been announced to the public in any official capacity.

The next big Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War update will likely be the expected mid-season refresh, which will be out in a few weeks. Nothing has been announced in regards to the likely Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War mid-season refresh, but it will almost certainly have bug fixes and other changes on top of any new content that's added to the game. Maybe it will even have some fixes for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's split-screen problems, or maybe fans will have to wait for Season 2.

Then again, it's also possible that Treyarch will ignore Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's split-screen problems. Hopefully that's not the case, but Call of Duty fans will find out in the weeks and months ahead.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

MORE: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Challenges Have A Big Flaw