1047 Games announced that it will cease active development on its two flagship titles, Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, and will move both projects 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, server‑driven shooters.
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 company had continued to subsidize those costs in the hope that the titles would eventually become self‑sustaining, it now acknowledges that this approach has 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 studio wrote. "Unfortunately, the economics no longer work for us." 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 uses a server‑browser interface, allowing individuals to host their own matches and discover others' sessions. To give the community a final boost, Empulse will receive one last map addition and a universal price reduction across all regions, which the company has labeled the "final update" for the title.
This transition mirrors the path taken with the original Splitgate, which also moved to a P2P architecture after its dedicated servers were retired last year. That version remains fully functional today, including on console platforms, demonstrating that the studio can keep a game alive without centralized server support. The background to these changes is rooted in a turbulent period for 1047 Games. Splitgate 2 launched in June 2025 amid a wave of controversy, most notably a politically charged "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a $145 cosmetic bundle that drew criticism from both players and the press.
Within a month of release, the company announced a round of layoffs, the size of which was not disclosed. A subsequent month saw the title pushed back into a beta state and a second wave of staff reductions. Empulse, marketed as a 6‑v‑6 movement‑shooter and spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026.
Its launch was quickly followed by multiple layoff rounds, further destabilizing the studio's development pipeline. These staffing cuts have been a recurring theme, with the most recent reductions occurring in July, only weeks after Empulse's initial release. Founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to signal a broader shift in the company's creative direction. "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," they said. "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 co‑founders reflected on the studio's origins, noting that they started 1047 Games a decade ago driven by a passion for video games.
Over that time, more than 25 million players have engaged with their titles, and many community members have become lifelong friends. While the statement did not provide specifics about future staffing levels, the pattern of layoffs suggests that further reductions could be possible as the company re‑evaluates its portfolio. The move to peer‑to‑peer hosting is not without its challenges.
P2P networks can suffer from higher latency, increased susceptibility to cheating, and reliance on the host's hardware quality. However, they also eliminate the recurring costs of server maintenance, allowing developers to allocate resources elsewhere—potentially toward new IPs, experimental projects, or a return to smaller‑scale, single‑player experiences. For players, the transition means that the community‑driven aspects of Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will continue, but the experience may feel different.
Without centralized matchmaking, finding matches could become slower, and the quality of connections may vary widely. The final map for Empulse and the price cut are intended to give fans a pleasant send‑off, but the long‑term health of the games will now depend on the dedication of their player bases. Industry observers see this as part of a larger trend where mid‑size studios, after experimenting with live‑service models, retreat to more sustainable development cycles. The high operational costs of dedicated servers, combined with the difficulty of retaining a paying player base over many years, have forced several developers to reconsider their business models.
In summary, 1047 Games is winding down active development on Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, shifting both titles to a peer‑to‑peer framework as of September 3. The studio cites insufficient revenue to sustain dedicated servers as the primary driver, and frames the change as part of a broader strategic realignment after ten years of focusing on live‑service shooters.
While the future staffing situation remains unclear, the founders emphasize a continued love for game creation and hint at a potentially different creative direction for the company's next projects.