There are a lot of games with disappointing multiplayer support. Borderlands only allows two player splitscreen; the multiplayer in Far Cry 3 is clearly oriented for online players; and Payday 2, a game made specifically for cooperative gameplay, forgoes local multiplayer entirely. Even with these in mind, “Evolve” is maybe the biggest disappointment for local multiplayer ever. Turtle Rock Studios’ Evolve is by far one of the most interesting next generation games out there. It’s a four player co-op shooter where players hunt down monsters in expansive environments… while a fifth player controls the monster. It is an incredibly innovative idea for a multiplayer experience from the studio that made Left 4 Dead, a game legendary for its enjoyable multiplayer. But there’s a catch. It does not support local multiplayer. 

There are several rational reasons you could cite for why Evolve skips out on local play. Most studios are currently favoring online play, and with the Xbox One and Playstation 4 having such a strong focus on an online experience who’s to blame them? Evolve is being released on both of the previously mentioned consoles and the PC, on which online multiplayer is a no-brainer. Still, it’s painful to see such vast potential for intense, engaging, and fun local multiplayer go to waste. The biggest problem is the format of the game itself. There is clearly not enough room for five-way splitscreen on most TVs, and having the monster’s screen next to the other players’ would ruin the suspense. If only there was a console with five player local capabilities with a separate fifth screen…

Enter the Wii U. This truly seems like a match made in heaven. Four players use Wii U Pro controllers (or potentially GameCube controllers, with the peripheral coming out this holiday) to hunt down the monster, while a fifth player controls the monster on the gamepad screen. Evolve could not be more perfectly structured for the Wii U hardware. With Nintendo being the only company with a focus on local multiplayer support, everything starts to fit together. 

The real elephant of this argument is the Wii U’s processing power. A lot of people do not consider the Wii U to have next-gen capabilities, and Evolve is very much a next gen game. For this to work, Turtle Rock would probably have to lower the game’s graphical specifications. This would be the sacrifice made for local multiplayer though, something that the Wii U has proven it can handle. With Mario Kart 8 out and Super Smash Bros. on the way, the Wii U stands out as a local multiplayer console. 

The Wii U is not the most popular console. This much is obvious. Despite this, Evolve has a chance to make Nintendo’s console revolutionary with a real reason to use the gamepad. Sign this petition if you want to see Evolve on the Wii U with five player local support.