1047 Games announced that it will cease active development on both Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, moving the two titles to a peer‑to‑peer (P2P) networking model as of September 3. The decision marks a significant strategic pivot for the studio after a decade of focusing on live‑service shooter experiences. In a brief statement posted to X earlier today, the company explained that the revenue generated by the two games no longer justifies the expense of maintaining dedicated server infrastructure. While the studio had continued to subsidise server costs in an effort to give the titles a chance to grow their player bases, it ultimately concluded that the model had become unsustainable.
"We have loved working on these games, playing them, and building them with this community, and we wish we could continue supporting them," the announcement read. "Unfortunately, the financial realities force us to change course." Effective September 3, the dedicated servers and official matchmaking services for Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will be shut down. Players will instead rely on a P2P system that utilizes a server browser, allowing them to host their own matches and locate others who are doing the same. As a parting gesture, Empulse will receive a final map update and a price reduction across all regions, which the studio described as the game's "final update." This move mirrors a similar transition that the original Splitgate underwent last year.
After its dedicated servers were taken offline, the game shifted to P2P hosting and remains fully playable today, including on console platforms. The background to these changes is worth noting. Splitgate 2 launched in June 2025 amid a wave of controversy, most notably the inclusion of a politically charged "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a $145 cosmetic bundle that drew criticism from the community.
Within a month of release, 1047 Games announced a round of layoffs, the size of which was not disclosed. A further month later, the studio placed the game back into a beta state and initiated a second wave of staff reductions. Empulse, marketed as a 6‑v‑6 movement shooter and often described as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026. Its launch was quickly followed by multiple rounds of layoffs, underscoring the financial strain the studio was experiencing.
Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to signal a broader shift in the company's creative direction. After ten years of building live‑service shooters, they said the studio's focus is now "changing" and 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," the founders 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." The statement did not provide specifics about current staffing levels, though it is clear that the company has already undergone several rounds of layoffs, the most recent occurring in July—just weeks after Empulse's early‑access debut.
It remains uncertain whether the latest announcement will trigger additional reductions. By moving to a P2P architecture, 1047 Games hopes to keep the core communities of Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded alive without the ongoing costs of server maintenance. Players will need to rely on peer‑hosted sessions, which can introduce variability in connection quality but also grants greater flexibility for small groups to organize matches on their own terms.
Industry observers note that the shift away from dedicated servers is becoming more common among mid‑size studios that struggle to sustain the high operational expenses associated with live‑service models. While P2P can extend the lifespan of a game, it often signals that a title is moving into a maintenance phase rather than receiving new content or major updates. For fans of Empulse, the final map and price cut may provide a modest incentive to explore the game one last time before its community gradually dwindles.
Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, having already survived a similar transition, is likely to retain a modest but dedicated player base that appreciates its fast‑paced arena combat. Looking ahead, 1047 Games has hinted that its next venture could depart from the shooter genre altogether, though no concrete details have been released.
The studio's history of innovation—spanning titles that have collectively attracted over 25 million players—suggests that whatever comes next will aim to leverage the lessons learned from a decade of live‑service development while exploring new creative directions. In summary, the cessation of active development for Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded reflects both financial realities and a strategic realignment for 1047 Games.
By transitioning to peer‑to‑peer hosting, the company hopes to preserve the ability for players to continue enjoying these games, even as it prepares to embark on a new chapter that may diverge sharply from its established shooter pedigree.