If you are sharing a couch, play LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. If you are playing online, play Star Wars Battlefront II (2017) in its Co-Op mode. The Skywalker Saga is two players on one screen, on every current console and PC, and it has no online play at all. Battlefront II's Co-Op puts four people on one team against bots, it is $9.99 on Steam until September 28, and its couch mode exists only on PlayStation and Xbox. If you want co-op that costs nothing and lasts for months, The Old Republic is free to start.
Most co-op lists get the platform details wrong, and that is the part that decides whether a game works for you. Split-screen that exists on a console and not on PC, or online play that does not exist at all, is the difference between a good evening and a refund. Every claim below was checked against the store listing, the publisher, or PCGamingWiki.
What counts as co-op here
Two or more people on the same side, against the game. Versus-only games are out, however good they are with friends, and so is anything you cannot buy or play today. Where a game is co-op on one platform and not another, we say which.
The eight at a glance
| # | Game | Couch co-op | Online co-op | Platforms | Price, week of Sep 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | 2 players, every platform | None | PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X/S, Switch | $49.99 on Steam; Game Pass |
| 2 | Battlefront II (2017) | 2 players in Arcade, PS4 and Xbox One only | Co-Op, 4 players vs bots | PC, PS4, Xbox One | $9.99 on Steam; EA Play |
| 3 | The Old Republic | None | Groups of 4, 8 or 16 | PC | Free to start |
| 4 | LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga | 2 players | None | PC | $19.99 |
| 5 | Battlefront Classic Collection | 2 players, every platform including PC | Player-hosted matches | PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X/S, Switch | About $35 |
| 6 | Squadrons | None | Fleet Battles vs AI, up to 5, crossplay | PC, PS4, Xbox One | $3.99 on Steam; EA Play |
| 7 | Episode I: Jedi Power Battles | 2 players | None | PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X/S, Switch | $19.99 |
| 8 | PowerWash Simulator 2: Star Wars Pack | 2 players, PC and Steam Deck only | Up to 4, crossplay | PC, PS5, Series X/S, Switch 2 | $24.99 plus $9.99 |
PS5 and Xbox Series owners can play the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Battlefront II and Squadrons, and they share those older consoles' player pools.
The ranking
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga 2022
Traveller's Tales
- Metacritic
- 82
- Playing now
- 704
The best game to play with one other person in the same room. A second controller drops in at any point and drops out the same way, the screen splits only when the two of you wander apart, and all nine films are here, in any order you like. It also won our LEGO ranking on every measure we use, and 90 percent of Steam reviewers recommend it.
The one thing to know before buying: it has no online co-op of any kind. The second player has to be on your couch.
- Who it is for: parents and kids, couples, anyone with a second controller.
- Before you buy: Steam lists it at $49.99, it is often much cheaper on sale, and it is on Game Pass. On PC, Steam's Remote Play Together can stream your game to a friend elsewhere (more on that below).
Star Wars Battlefront II (2017) 2017
EA DICE
- Metacritic
- 68
- Playing now
- 1,806
The best Star Wars co-op you can play over the internet. The Co-Op mode, added in September 2019, puts four players on one side with AI troopers and sends you against a team of bots in objective battles, with heroes on both sides. It is the easiest way into Battlefront II for anyone who does not want to be flattened by eight-year veterans in Galactic Assault, and it still matchmakes: our tracker's busiest Steam reading in the week to September 21 was 1,806.
- Who it is for: friends who want to play online together, and newer players who would rather learn against bots.
- Couch co-op, consoles only: Arcade supports two-player split-screen against bots on PS4 and Xbox One. PC has never had split-screen.
- Before you buy: there is no crossplay, so everyone needs the same platform. It is $9.99 on Steam and the EA app until September 28, $4.99 on PlayStation until September 24, and included with EA Play, Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Our Battlefront II guide has every store's price.
The Old Republic 2011
BioWare
- Metacritic
- 85
- Playing now
- 5,188
The most co-op for the least money, and the longest. The group content is built for friends: heroic missions for two or four, flashpoints for four, and operations for eight or sixteen. Your class story stays yours, and its private areas are played solo, but two friends leveling side by side will spend most of their time on the same planets, doing the same quests. The 5,188 is Steam alone; our player-count breakdown explains why the real population is bigger.
- Who it is for: a pair or a group who want something to play together for months, and anyone who liked KOTOR.
- Before you start: PC only. Free covers levels 1 to 60, including all eight original class stories; everything after that needs a subscription. Our RPG ranking has the full terms.
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga 2007
Traveller's Tales
- Metacritic
- 80
The cheap way to do what first place does. Both of the first two LEGO Star Wars games in one package, all six prequel and original films, two players on one screen, $19.99 on Steam and GOG. Ninety-seven percent of Steam reviewers recommend it, the highest of any LEGO Star Wars game there. The two of you share one camera rather than splitting the screen, so neither can wander far from the other, and it looks like the 2009 PC port it is.
- Who it is for: a PC household on a budget, or anyone who wants the original levels.
- Before you buy: PC is the easy way to play it. The Xbox 360 disc also runs on Xbox One and Series consoles through backward compatibility; the PS3, Wii and DS versions are stuck on their hardware. No online co-op. (Correction, September 24, 2026: this said PC was the only current way to play it.)
Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005) 2005
Pandemic Studios
The 2005 Battlefront II, the one people mean when they say Battlefront II, is the best split-screen shooter in Star Wars, and you need Aspyr's Battlefront Classic Collection to play it that way. The collection bundles the 2004 and 2005 games, and two players can share a screen for the campaigns and for Galactic Conquest on every platform, including PC. It ranks this low because of everything else about the collection: Steam's reviews sit at 24 percent positive after a broken 2024 launch, its online server list is thin, and it has not been updated since June 2024.
- Who it is for: anyone on PlayStation, Xbox or Switch who wants the classic Battlefront with a second player on the couch. It is the only current-console version.
- Before you buy: on PC, the $9.99 standalone 2005 game is better online but has no split-screen. Buy the collection only for the couch, on sale if you can. Our 2005 Battlefront II guide covers both versions.
Star Wars: Squadrons 2020
Motive Studio
- Metacritic
- 79
- Playing now
- 115
The only co-op cockpit in modern Star Wars. Fleet Battles against AI puts you and up to four friends in a party against computer-flown squadrons and their capital ships, and it is the one mode that does not need strangers online, which matters: our tracker never saw more than 115 people on Steam in the week to September 21. It is the only game on this list with crossplay across PC, PlayStation and Xbox, and it works in VR.
- Who it is for: two to five friends with pads, sticks or headsets.
- Before you buy: $3.99 on Steam until September 28, and on EA Play. There is no split-screen. Our Squadrons player count covers what the small population means for everything else in the game.
Episode I: Jedi Power Battles 2000
LucasArts
Aspyr's January 2025 remaster of the 2000 PlayStation game: two Jedi, one screen, a ten-level campaign through The Phantom Menace. It is short, it plays like a game from 2000 with modern controls added, and Steam's reviewers are lukewarm at 77 percent. As a one-evening game for two people who remember it, it does the job.
- Who it is for: two players who grew up with it.
- Before you buy: $19.99 on every current platform. Couch co-op only; there is no online mode.
PowerWash Simulator: Star Wars packs 2023
FuturLab
The strangest entry and one of the easiest to recommend to a partner who does not play shooters. PowerWash Simulator 2's Star Wars Pack adds six original-trilogy jobs, from Lars' Homestead to the Millennium Falcon, and the base game supports online co-op for up to four with crossplay. It is split-screen on PC and Steam Deck only.
- Who it is for: a relaxed evening with someone who wants to talk while they play.
- Before you buy: you need the base game ($24.99 on Steam) and the pack ($9.99). Our pack write-up lists the six jobs.
Also co-op, and why they are not in the eight
- Star Wars Battlefront (2015) has two-player co-op missions, split-screen on PS4 and Xbox One and online on every platform. It is $4.99 on Steam until September 28 and on EA Play, but its successor above does everything it does, and our tracker never saw more than 78 people in it on Steam in the week to September 21.
- LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars and LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens are both two-player couch games at $19.99 on Steam. Our LEGO ranking explains why the two above are the better buys.
- Star Wars Galaxies runs on free fan servers, PC only, and grouping up was the heart of it. None of the servers is licensed and any could close. Our Galaxies guide covers which to pick.
- Fortnite's Smuggler's Gambit is a free co-op Star Wars island with missions for Hondo Ohnaka, playable on every platform Fortnite runs on. Our write-up has the details.
- Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike has a co-op version of Rogue Leader's whole campaign, and it is still GameCube only.
Not co-op, whatever other lists say
- Star Wars: Zero Company is single-player. Steam lists no multiplayer of any kind. Our review gave it a 9, and you will be playing it alone.
- Star Wars: Galactic Racer (upcoming, October 6) is online multiplayer for up to 12 racers, and it is versus only. Fuse Games has said there will be no split-screen. Our Tour mode piece covers what its multiplayer does have.
- Republic Commando is a squad game you play alone. Its multiplayer is versus, and the current console ports have none.
- Star Wars: Hunters was a team game, and it shut down on October 1, 2025.
- The Jedi games and Outlaws are single-player. Fallen Order and Survivor have no co-op mode at all.
- The standalone 2005 Battlefront II on Steam and GOG has no split-screen without third-party tools.
Playing a couch game over the internet
On PC, Steam's Remote Play Together streams a local co-op game to a friend's computer, and only the host needs to own it. Steam lists it for The Skywalker Saga, The Complete Saga, both other LEGO games above, Jedi Power Battles and the Classic Collection. It adds some lag, which suits a LEGO game better than a shooter, and it is the only way to play The Skywalker Saga with someone who is not in the room.
Which one to play
With a kid on the couch: The Skywalker Saga, on whatever you own. On a tight PC budget, The Complete Saga.
With a friend online: Battlefront II's Co-Op, on the same platform as each other.
With a group, for months, for free: The Old Republic.
With a partner who does not play shooters: a LEGO game, or PowerWash Simulator 2 with the Star Wars Pack.
In a cockpit: Squadrons' Fleet Battles against AI, for $3.99 this week.
The details
- Couch and online co-op for every game were checked against its Steam listing, the publisher's own descriptions and PCGamingWiki. Console-only split-screen in both EA Battlefronts comes from EA and PCGamingWiki, which lists PC split-screen for both as mod-only.
- Prices are US store prices the week of September 21. The EA discounts on Battlefront II, Battlefront (2015) and Squadrons end on September 28, according to Steam, and the PlayStation Battlefront II sale on September 24.
- Metacritic figures are each game's headline score. Player figures are our tracker's busiest Steam reading in the week to September 21, and count Steam only.
- Galactic Racer's missing split-screen comes from Fuse Games CEO Matt Webster, speaking to Traxion in August.
