1047 Games announced that it will stop active development on its two flagship titles, Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, and will move both games to a peer‑to‑peer (P2P) hosting model. 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 developers 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 previously subsidised those costs in an effort to give the titles a chance to grow their player bases, it now acknowledges that continuing to do so has become "no longer sustainable." "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 and the official matchmaking services for both Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will be decommissioned.
Players will instead rely on a P2P system that uses a server browser, allowing them to host matches themselves and locate others who are looking for games. To give Empulse a proper send‑off, the studio promised one final new map and a universal price reduction across all regions as part of what it termed the "final update" for the title.
This transition mirrors the path taken by the original Splitgate earlier last year. When its dedicated servers were shut down, Splitgate migrated to a P2P architecture and remains fully playable on PC and console platforms. The move demonstrated that a well‑established community can continue to thrive even without centralized server support, provided the developers supply the necessary tools for player‑hosted matchmaking. Splitgate 2, released in June 2025, quickly became embroiled in controversy.
The launch featured a politically charged "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a $145 cosmetic bundle that sparked backlash across the gaming community. Within a month of release, 1047 Games announced a round of layoffs, though the exact number of affected staff members was not disclosed.
A further month later, the company rolled the game back into a beta phase and initiated a second wave of staff reductions, signaling deeper financial and operational challenges. Empulse, positioned as a 6‑v‑6 movement‑focused shooter and often described as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026.
Its debut was followed by several rounds of layoffs within weeks, reflecting the same fiscal pressures that plagued Splitgate 2. Despite the talent and ambition behind the project, the game struggled to attract a sustainable player base fast enough to justify the cost of dedicated server upkeep.
Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to outline the studio's evolving vision. After ten years dedicated to live‑service shooters, they said the company's focus is "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," 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." The statement did not provide specifics about the current staffing situation, although the company has already undergone multiple layoff rounds, the most recent occurring in July, just weeks after Empulse launched. It remains uncertain whether the September transition will trigger additional reductions or if the studio will stabilize its workforce as it re‑tools its development pipeline for new, non‑live‑service projects.
Industry observers note that the shift away from dedicated servers is part of a broader trend among mid‑size studios grappling with the high operational costs of live‑service models. While P2P hosting reduces overhead, it also places more responsibility on players to manage latency, cheating prevention, and matchmaking quality. Some analysts predict that 1047 Games may explore hybrid approaches or entirely new genres that do not rely on persistent online infrastructures.
For the community, the immediate impact is clear: after September 3, anyone wishing to play Empulse or Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will need to use the in‑game server browser to find or host matches. The promised final map for Empulse and the global price cut aim to give players a reason to return one last time before the titles settle into their new, community‑driven hosting model.
Overall, the announcement underscores the challenges of sustaining live‑service shooters in a competitive market, especially for studios that lack the deep pockets of larger publishers. As 1047 Games looks ahead, its leadership emphasizes a return to core game‑making passion, hinting that future releases may explore fresh mechanics, narrative‑driven experiences, or even genres beyond the shooter space. Only time will tell how the studio's next chapter unfolds, but for now, fans can expect a final farewell to the dedicated servers that have supported Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded for the past several years.