Splitgate 2 launched on June 6 during Summer Game Fest, but the less-than-stellar reception from players since has prompted developer 1047 Games to go back to the drawing board. This means the studio is taking the free-to-play shooter back to beta, which has resulted in a number of layoffs at the studio.
A lengthy Steam post penned by 1047 founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian states that the negative player feedback has made them realize the game “launched too early” and may have been too ambitious. “We rushed certain features, made some boneheaded mistakes, and most importantly – we didn’t give you the polished, portal-filled mayhem you fell in love with,” reads the statement.
Splitgate 2 will now return to a playable beta form, with 1047 going “heads down” until early 2026 to significantly rebuild the game. This includes, among other changes, reworking the progression systems from scratch, adding more portals to maps, simplifying monetization, and refocusing on classic game modes. During this time, 1047 plans to host more playtests and send more surveys to gather as much community feedback as possible. The studio also promises it will still ship Chapter 3 of the game.
Unfortunately, 1047 states that this long-term shift in direction requires reducing an unknown number of studio roles to move development resources towards this rework. The developer promises affected employees will receive severance and job placement support and hopes to “bring them back when we can.”
In an effort to retain as much staff as possible and save costs, 1047 is also shutting down the servers for the original Splitgate in one month. “While we’d love to keep servers online indefinitely, it’s cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past couple of years, and we have to prioritize our team,” reads the statement. 1047 says it’s exploring supporting offline or peer-to-peer matches for fans of the first game.
It’s been a rough launch for Splitgate 2. On top of players not enjoying the game nearly as much as the 2021 original, which at one point was so popular its servers routinely crashed due to full player capacities, the game suffered a PR blow stemming from co-founder Ian Proulx’s stage appearance during the Summer Game Fest Showcase.
While promoting Splitgate 2’s launch on stage, Proulx wore a hat bearing the message “Make FPS Great Again”, a play on the slogan of the polarizing MAGA movement. Many viewed this reference as tone deaf and insensitive amid the ICE raids occurring in Los Angeles (where SGF takes place) during that time, which ignited several protests in the city. Proulx’s appearance garnered significant backlash from some players and industry peers, with many vowing never to play Splitgate 2 as a result. After initially attempting to clarify his actions, Proulx would later issue a video apology.
“We’ve faced a lot of dark days and have made many mistakes, but we’ve learned a lot and are as determined as ever to make Splitgate as great as possible,” reads 1047’s Steam update. “Splitgate has been our life for 10 years, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ve got work to do, but we aren’t giving up.”
