Couch co-op is losing ground to online co-op
In 2005, 79% of the co-op games released had local co-op: two or more people playing on one console or one PC. In 2025 it was 35%. Online co-op went the other way, from 32% to 75%.
Studios didn't stop making couch co-op games. 65 came out in 2005 and 414 in 2025, and the busiest year was 2020 with 541. Online-only co-op grew much faster, from 10 games in 2005 to 752 in 2025, and 82% of last year's came out only on PC, where playing on one screen was never the default.
Consoles are holding on better
Couch co-op has always lived on consoles, and the drop there is smaller: 87% of the co-op games released on a console in 2005 had local play, against 54% in 2025. In raw numbers that's 60 games then and 150 in 2025. The couch co-op lists for PS5, Switch and Xbox Series X|S are the place to start.
Split-screen had a late boom
Split-screen doesn't follow the same line. It was in 23% of new co-op games in 2010, climbed to 49% in 2020, and has dropped back to 30% since. Plenty of the biggest split-screen games never brought it to their PC versions, which is its own list: split-screen co-op games that don't have it on PC.
Couch co-op from the last two years
Everything else is in couch co-op games and split-screen games.
The numbers by year
| Year | Co-op games | Local co-op | Local % | Online % | Split-screen % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,172 | 414 | 35% | 75% | 30% |
| 2024 | 1,265 | 488 | 39% | 71% | 33% |
| 2023 | 976 | 448 | 46% | 67% | 38% |
| 2022 | 845 | 409 | 48% | 63% | 39% |
| 2021 | 894 | 432 | 48% | 62% | 37% |
| 2020 | 883 | 541 | 61% | 53% | 49% |
| 2019 | 596 | 364 | 61% | 54% | 41% |
| 2018 | 536 | 346 | 65% | 50% | 44% |
| 2017 | 464 | 293 | 63% | 51% | 39% |
| 2016 | 400 | 257 | 64% | 55% | 37% |
| 2015 | 342 | 211 | 62% | 58% | 26% |
| 2014 | 300 | 169 | 56% | 59% | 20% |
| 2013 | 258 | 147 | 57% | 60% | 19% |
| 2012 | 212 | 121 | 57% | 59% | 18% |
| 2011 | 256 | 170 | 66% | 54% | 22% |
| 2010 | 193 | 127 | 66% | 48% | 23% |
| 2009 | 192 | 125 | 65% | 54% | 19% |
| 2008 | 161 | 116 | 72% | 44% | 25% |
| 2007 | 106 | 71 | 67% | 46% | 23% |
| 2006 | 103 | 66 | 64% | 45% | 23% |
| 2005 | 82 | 65 | 79% | 32% | 29% |
| 2004 | 96 | 68 | 71% | 33% | 26% |
| 2003 | 60 | 52 | 87% | 35% | 28% |
| 2002 | 66 | 54 | 82% | 17% | 30% |
| 2001 | 64 | 49 | 77% | 34% | 39% |
| 2000 | 51 | 38 | 75% | 25% | 14% |
Each game is counted once, in the year it first came out, across every platform it's on. Local co-op means couch or split-screen co-op on at least one of them. 2026 is left out until it's over, and the latest year can still shift a little as late releases get their data.