Split screen is broken. It's been working for years, then two years ago, it stopped. I thought it was my internet, but since getting better internet, it's still broken. Now, instead of being stuck on the “generating world” screen, it'll split the screen, just to unsplit it seconds after! What's up with that? Can you fix it? I miss playing on split screen, and have contemplated uninstalling it since this great disappointment.
MCPE-218962
Split screen is broken
Open
2
Also affected. Adding details that may help narrow this down.
Platform: Nintendo Switch 2, native Switch 2 version, 26.60. The same issue also occurred on the Switch 1 version (running on Switch 2) before the native release.
Steps to reproduce:
Create a new world with default settings
Load the world as player 1
Join as player 2 with a second controller (+ button)
Result: Split-screen appears for about a second, then the game exits the world and returns to the world selection screen. No error message, and the app doesn't close.
Key detail: this only happens in newly created worlds.
100% reproducible on every new world, including one created immediately before testing.
Worlds created on the original Switch earlier in 2026 still work in split-screen on the same console, same game version, same controllers.
Timeline: Started in August–September 2026 on the Switch 1 version, after the 26.40/26.50 updates. Still present in 26.60 on the native Switch 2 version.
Possible cause: 26.40 and 26.50 introduced behavior gated on a world's base game version (e.g., stair corner and thin-fence/trip-wire connection-state neighbor updates that apply only to worlds created on 1.26.40/1.26.50+). That matches the old-world/new-world split exactly. This is a guess, but checking whether split-screen client sync fails on worlds with base game version 1.26.40+ may be a quick way to confirm.
Troubleshooting already tried, none of which fixed it:
Reinstalled the game directly onto the console's internal storage
Fully uninstalled and reinstalled the game
Cleared all game cache
Removed all other games from the console
Restarted the console
Lowered or turned off all graphics settings
Workaround: Playing older worlds (created before 26.40) in split-screen works.