If you’ve ever wanted to team up with a friend to tame dinosaurs, build fortified bases, and fend off raptor attacks without needing a second PS4 or stable internet connection, you’ve probably wondered: can 2 players play Ark on one PS4? The short answer is yes, but there are specific setup steps, hardware requirements, and small limitations you need to know before you jump into the ARK: Survival Evolved map together. I’ve tested this setup dozens of times with my younger brother on our own standard PS4 over the past few years, so I’ll walk you through exactly what works, what doesn’t, and how to avoid the most frustrating common mistakes that ruin hours-long co-op sessions before you even get to tame your first Triceratops.
What You Need First Before Confirming Can 2 Players Play Ark on One PS4
Before you start syncing controllers or launching the game, you’ll need to make sure you have all the required hardware and software to run split-screen play smoothly. Missing even one of these items can lead to controller recognition errors, corrupted save files, or no split-screen option appearing at all. From my own trial and error, here’s the full list of what you’ll need:
- One fully updated copy of ARK: Survival Evolved (standard or Ultimate Survivor Edition both work, as long as you have installed all recent patch updates)
- Two compatible controllers (DualShock 4 is preferred for PS4, but DualSense controllers are also supported if you have one left over from a PS5 upgrade)
- At least 5GB of extra free storage on your PS4, as co-op save files are significantly larger than single-player saves and require extra space for auto-save backups
- Two PSN accounts if you want both players to retain their inventory and progression across separate sessions; a guest account works for one-off play but won’t save any progress for the second player when you close the game
I tried skipping the extra storage check once before a weekend co-op session, and it caused my save file to corrupt halfway through a 3-hour taming session for a level 120 Rex. I lost all the progress we’d made over two days, so don’t make that same mistake. If you’re not sure how much space you have left, head to your PS4’s storage settings to confirm before you start the setup process.
Key Settings to Adjust for Smooth Split-Screen Ark Play on PS4
Once you have all your hardware ready and both accounts logged in, launch Ark and head to the main menu to start the setup process. First, select “Host/Local” instead of joining an online server, because split-screen co-op only works for locally hosted games, not public online or official servers. Always choose the “Non-Dedicated Session” option when hosting, as dedicated sessions don’t support split-screen play on any PS4 model.
Next, adjust the split-screen orientation to fit your preferences: you can pick horizontal or vertical split, depending on what’s more comfortable for you and your co-op partner. I prefer horizontal split for most exploration and taming sessions, but vertical is better if you’re both focusing on building structures close to each other. Turn down the view distance and shadow quality to medium or low to avoid consistent frame drops, especially when you’re exploring dense forests, the snow biome, or areas with lots of active dinosaurs. The standard PS4’s hardware can struggle to run two instances of the game at once, so lowering these settings will make the experience far smoother for both players. If you’re playing on a PS4 Pro, you can get away with keeping view distance on high, but you’ll still want to turn down shadow quality to prevent lag during large dino fights.
You should also turn on “Enable PvE Friendly Fire” if you want to be able to hit each other by accident during fights, or leave it off if you’re playing with a newer player who doesn’t want to get knocked out by a misplaced spear throw. I also recommend turning off motion blur for both players, as it can make split-screen play feel disorienting after an hour or two of gaming.
Common Issues With 2-Player Split-Screen Ark on PS4 (And How to Fix Them)
Even if you follow all the setup steps perfectly, you might run into a few common bugs that most PS4 players face with split-screen Ark. One of the most frequent issues is the second player’s controller not being recognized when you launch the game. If that happens, close Ark completely, turn off the second controller, turn it back on, and sync it to the second account before you re-launch the game. Never sync the second controller after you’ve already launched Ark, as the game almost always fails to recognize it if you do, and you’ll have to restart the whole process.
Another common problem is the second player spawning with no items or not being able to interact with structures you’ve already built before they joined. To fix this, make sure the second player is added to your tribe as soon as they spawn into the map. You can do this by opening the tribe menu, selecting “Invite Player”, and choosing the second player’s name from the pop-up list. This will give them full access to all tribe structures, tamed dinos, and shared storage.
I’ve also run into cases where the save file won’t load for both players after a session ends. To prevent this, always have both players leave the game through the in-game menu before you close the application, instead of turning off the controller or closing the game mid-session. If you do run into a corrupted save, you can usually restore the last auto-save from your PS4’s saved data storage, so you won’t lose all your progress.
Limitations of 2-Player Local Co-op for Ark on PS4
It’s great that you can play with a friend on one PS4, but there are some hard limits you should know about before you start your playthrough to avoid disappointment later. First, you can’t add any more than two players to a local split-screen session on any PS4 model, even if you have extra controllers available. The PS4 hardware just can’t support more than two instances of the game running at once without major performance issues, so Studio Wildcard capped local co-op at two players.
Second, you can’t join public online servers with split-screen play, so you’ll be limited to your own local hosted map or a friend’s non-dedicated server that you join via online co-op (which requires two separate consoles and internet access for both players). You also won’t be able to use mods on your local split-screen game, since PS4 doesn’t support modding for Ark the way PC does. If you want to play with modded content, custom maps, or more than two local players, you’ll need to upgrade to the PC version of the game.
Another small limitation is that the second player can’t access their own single-player save files when playing on your hosted session, so all their progress will be tied to your local save file unless they have their own PSN account and you share the save with them later. This isn’t a big deal for most casual co-op sessions, but it’s something to keep in mind if your partner wants to continue playing on their own time.
At the end of the day, can 2 players play Ark on one PS4? Absolutely, as long as you follow the setup steps, adjust your settings for performance, and plan around the small limitations that come with local split-screen play. I’ve spent dozens of hours playing this way with friends and family, and it’s one of the most fun ways to experience Ark if you don’t want to deal with the chaos of random raiders on public online servers. Just make sure you save often, adjust your graphics settings to avoid frame drops, and don’t let your co-op partner steal all the prime meat from your tamed Rex kills, and you’ll have a great time exploring the ARK together.