1047 Games announced that it will stop further development on its two flagship titles, Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, and will move both projects 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 concentrating on live‑service first‑person shooters.
In a brief statement posted to X earlier today, the company explained that the revenue generated by the two games no longer covers the ongoing expenses associated with maintaining dedicated server infrastructure. While the studio had continued to subsidize server costs in an effort to give the titles a chance to grow their player bases, it ultimately concluded that this approach had become financially untenable.
"We have loved working on these games, playing them, and building them with this community, and we wish we could continue supporting them," the post read, underscoring the bittersweet nature of the announcement. Effective September 3, the dedicated servers for Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will be decommissioned. Matchmaking will be replaced by a traditional server browser that relies on P2P connections, allowing players to host their own matches and locate others without the need for centralized servers. As a parting gesture, Empulse will receive one final map and a price reduction across all regions, which the studio billed as the game's "final update." This move mirrors a similar transition that the original Splitgate underwent last year.
After its dedicated servers were shut down, the game shifted to P2P hosting and remains fully playable on PC and console platforms. Splitgate 2, released in June 2025, quickly became embroiled in controversy.
The launch featured a polarising "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a $145 cosmetic bundle that sparked heated debate within 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 title back into beta and initiated a second wave of staff reductions, signaling ongoing financial strain. Empulse, marketed as a 6‑v‑6 movement‑focused shooter and positioned as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026. Its debut was followed by several rounds of layoffs within weeks, suggesting that the project struggled to achieve the player numbers needed to sustain its server costs. Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to articulate 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 anything previously associated with 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 specific details about the current staffing situation, though the company has already undergone multiple layoff rounds, the most recent occurring in July—just weeks after Empulse launched.
It remains uncertain whether the latest announcement will trigger additional reductions. Industry observers note that the shift away from dedicated servers is a pragmatic response to the high operational costs of maintaining low‑populated multiplayer environments. Peer‑to‑peer hosting dramatically reduces overhead, but it also places greater responsibility on individual players to manage latency, security, and matchmaking quality. For many smaller or niche multiplayer games, this trade‑off is becoming increasingly common as developers seek sustainable models.
For the community, the transition means that players will need to adapt to a new way of finding matches. The upcoming server browser will list active host sessions, and players can create private lobbies or join public games hosted by peers.
While this may introduce variability in connection quality, it also offers greater flexibility, allowing fans to keep the games alive without relying on the studio's server budget. The final map for Empulse and the global price cut are intended as goodwill gestures, giving players a fresh experience and a more affordable entry point as the title winds down its development cycle.
These steps aim to preserve goodwill among the existing player base and encourage continued engagement despite the reduced support infrastructure. Looking ahead, 1047 Games has hinted that its next venture could diverge significantly from the live‑service shooter formula. Whether the studio will explore single‑player narratives, different genres, or hybrid experiences remains to be seen, but the founders' emphasis on passion and lessons learned suggests a willingness to experiment.
In summary, 1047 Games is ending active development on Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, moving both to peer‑to‑peer hosting on September 3, and providing a final content update for Empulse. The decision reflects broader financial realities and a strategic shift away from the live‑service shooter model that defined the studio for a decade. The community will now rely on P2P matchmaking to keep the games playable, while the studio looks toward a new, as‑yet‑undefined direction for its future projects.