The future of local multiplayer should be one display for everyone – Reader’s Feature

While local multiplayer has become increasingly less common in recent years, a reader has a very detailed idea for how to make it more appealing.

In the future I envisage a modern evolution of local multiplayer gaming, where one powerful console or PC drives multiple independent displays, giving every player their own full-screen experience while keeping everyone physically together.

The interesting thing is that the technology to make this possible largely exists already. What’s missing is widespread support from game developers and platform manufacturers.

The dream set-up

Imagine one powerful gaming PC or console connected to multiple monitors or televisions:

Each player would have:

• Their own complete, unobstructed field of view.
• Their own controller, keyboard, or mouse.
• Independent HUD elements, inventory, maps, and menus.
• No access to another player’s viewpoint unless they physically look at their screen.
• Near-zero network latency between players, because they’re sharing the same machine and game simulation.

That last point is particularly exciting for competitive games.

Why this would be different from traditional split-screen

• Screen space goes from shared to a full screen per player.
• Screen cheating goes from extremely easy to physically avoidable.
• Field of view goes from often compromised to independent.
• Competitive fairness goes from limited privacy to much better privacy.
• Local co-op goes from excellent to potentially excellent.
• Hardware needed goes from one display to multiple displays.
• Performance demand goes from multiple viewpoints to multiple viewpoints and potentially higher resolutions.

One important distinction: dedicated displays wouldn’t automatically eliminate screen cheating if the monitors are visible to one another. But arranging them back-to-back, using dividers, or placing players in different parts of a room could solve that.

The biggest technical obstacle isn’t actually the displays

Modern graphics hardware can already drive multiple monitors.

The real challenge is that games need to support multiple independent players, cameras, input streams, and display outputs within one running instance.

For example, imagine a multiplayer competitive shooter:

1. The CPU runs one shared simulation of the arena.
2. The GPU renders multiple different camera perspectives.
3. Each perspective is routed to a separate display.
4. Each controller operates only its assigned character.
5. The game maintains separate private information for each player.

This would be more demanding than rendering one player’s perspective, requiring more computing power. Game simulation, physics, world data, and some rendering work could be shared.

And there are interesting precedents. The Nintendo DS and Wii U explored asymmetric displays in different forms, while PC software such as Nucleus Co-op has demonstrated ways of running multiple game instances for local multiplayer, although that’s different from native multi-output support.

1. I can picture three particularly compelling categories:

Multiple people in one room playing a tactical shooter, racing game, or arena combat game, with independent displays and no network connection required.

2. Immersive cooperative adventures

Players could explore different parts of an open world independently, communicate verbally, and reunite for missions – without being restricted by split-screen or shared-camera mechanics.

3. Local racing and simulation

Multiple drivers competing on separate screens, possibly with individual steering wheels, all powered by one high-performance computer.

It could bring back something that modern gaming has partly lost: the social experience of being in the same physical room, while retaining the competitive integrity and visual freedom of online multiplayer.

You’d effectively get LAN party style gaming without needing a separate gaming PC or console for every participant.

There’s also an interesting economic possibility: imagine a future console specifically designed for multiplayer multi-display gaming, where developers could target a standardised hardware configuration.

By reader Sheel

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.

Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.

MORE: How GTA 6 made money on its advertising and why Rockstar hate discs – Reader’s Feature

MORE: I’m shocked by how little has changed about Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake – Reader’s Feature

MORE: GTA 6 is worth all the hype and will be worth the wait – Reader’s Feature