1047 Games has announced that it will cease active development on its two flagship projects, Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded. The decision comes as the studio signals a broader strategic pivot away from the live‑service shooter model that has defined its work for the past decade. Beginning on September 3, both games will abandon their dedicated‑server infrastructure in favor of a peer‑to‑peer (P2P) networking system, allowing players to host matches themselves through a built‑in server browser. In a brief statement posted to X earlier today, the company explained that the revenue generated by the two titles no longer covers the ongoing expenses associated with maintaining dedicated servers.
While the studio had continued to subsidize those costs in hopes that the games would eventually achieve a sustainable player base, it ultimately concluded that the financial model was "no longer sustainable." The developers expressed genuine affection for the projects, noting that they have enjoyed both building and playing the games alongside their communities, and lamented that they cannot continue to support them at the current level. Effective September 3, the matchmaking services and dedicated server back‑ends for Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will be decommissioned.
Players will instead rely on a peer‑to‑peer architecture, where individual users act as hosts for matches. To facilitate this transition, the studio will introduce a server browser that lets players locate and join games hosted by other community members. As a parting gesture, Empulse will receive one final map addition and a universal price reduction across all regions, which the company has labeled the "final update" for the title.
This move mirrors a similar transition that occurred with the original Splitgate last year. After its dedicated servers were shut down, that game also shifted to a P2P model and remains fully playable today on both PC and console platforms. The precedent suggests that 1047 Games hopes to keep the core experiences alive even without the costly server infrastructure.
The background to this decision is marked by a turbulent period for the studio. Splitgate 2 launched in June 2025 amid a swirl of controversy, including the release of a politically charged "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a high‑priced $145 cosmetic bundle. Within weeks of launch, the company announced an undisclosed round of layoffs, and a month later the title was rolled back to beta status, prompting a second wave of staff reductions.
Empulse, positioned as a 6‑v‑6 movement shooter and often described as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026. Its debut was quickly followed by multiple rounds of layoffs, reflecting the company's ongoing financial strain. Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to articulate a shift in the studio's creative direction.
After ten years of concentrating on live‑service shooters, they indicated that future projects may look very different from what fans have come to expect from 1047 Games. "We started 1047 Games ten years ago because we love video games," they wrote.
"Since then, more than 25 million people have played our games, and many of the people we've met along the way have become lifelong friends. After ten years of focusing on live‑service shooters, our focus is changing. What we build next may look very different from what people expect from 1047 Games, but what has not changed is why we are here: we love making games.
We have learned a lot over the years, and we will carry those lessons into what we build next." While the public statement did not provide specific details about current staffing levels, it is clear that the studio has already endured several layoff cycles, the most recent occurring in July, shortly after Empulse's launch. It remains uncertain whether the latest announcement will precipitate additional reductions. Nonetheless, the shift away from dedicated servers and the cessation of active development signal a decisive change in 1047 Games' business model, as it seeks to adapt to market realities and explore new creative avenues beyond the live‑service shooter genre.