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Just two months after the release of the PvP arena shooter Empulse, 1047 Games is halting work on the game and its predecessor, Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, saying that neither is making enough money to support their operating costs. The studio itself will remain but its “focus is changing,” and its next game “may look very different from what people expect.”
The original Splitgate: Arena Warfare was something of a phenom when it debuted in 2019, which was a blessing and a curse: The crossplay beta test was a mess because the game was so popular, and its final release was delayed so 1047 could revamp its server infrastructure. The money flowed in and 1047 co-founder and CEO Ian Proulx mused about being the next Riot Games, but the wheels came off with Splitgate 2; its follow-up, Empulse, showed early promise but failed to cause much of a stir, and just a month after that game’s release, the company laid off a number of employees.
And now work on both games has ended entirely. “The reality is that neither game is generating enough revenue to support the ongoing cost of dedicated servers,” 1047 said in a Steam update. “We have continued covering those costs because we wanted to give both games every opportunity to grow, but we have reached the point where that is no longer sustainable.”
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The good news for fans of Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded is that, like the original Splitgate before them, both games are being given peer-to-peer support: Dedicated servers and matchmaking will end on September 3, “but players will still be able to host matches, find games, and play with friends forever.” Empulse will also get a final new map, and a price reduction.
1047 said in a separate post that it will continue to operate, although there’s a distinct curtain falling vibe to its “What’s Next” message.
“To everyone who worked on Splitgate, Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, and Empulse, including those no longer at 1047: thank you. You put years of your lives into them, and we are grateful for what you helped build,” the studio wrote.
“And to everyone who played, gave us feedback, made videos, argued about balance changes, discovered ridiculous movement tech, or brought friends into a lobby: thank you for being part of this with us.
“Thank you for the last 10 years. See you in the server browser.”
