1047 Games announced that it will stop 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 as of September 3. The decision marks a significant strategic pivot for the studio, which has spent the past decade focusing on live‑service first‑person shooters. In a brief statement posted to X earlier today, the company explained that neither Empulse nor Splitgate: Arena Reloaded is generating sufficient revenue to offset the ongoing expenses associated with maintaining dedicated server infrastructure. While the studio had previously subsidised those costs in an effort to give the games a chance to grow their player bases, it now concludes that this approach is "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 developers wrote, underscoring the emotional attachment they feel toward the projects and their fans.
Effective September 3, the dedicated servers and official matchmaking services for both titles will be retired. Players will instead rely on a P2P system complemented by a server‑browser interface, allowing them to host their own matches and locate opponents directly. As part of what the studio is calling the "final update" for Empulse, the game will receive one last new map and a price reduction across all regions, giving the community a modest farewell gift. This move mirrors a similar transition that occurred with the original Splitgate.
After its dedicated servers were shut down last year, Splitgate shifted to a P2P architecture and remains playable on PC and consoles, albeit without the centralized matchmaking that once defined the experience. The background to these changes is rooted in a turbulent period for the company. Splitgate 2 launched in June 2025 amid a wave of controversy, including the release of a politically charged "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a $145 cosmetic bundle that sparked heated debate within the gaming community. Within weeks of launch, 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 a beta state and initiated a second wave of staff reductions. Empulse, marketed as a 6‑vs‑6 movement shooter and positioned as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026. The title’s launch was quickly followed by multiple rounds of layoffs, reflecting the company’s broader financial strain. Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian addressed the shift in direction, stating that after ten years of building live‑service shooters, the studio’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 said. "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 public statement did not provide specifics about the current staffing situation, but it is known that 1047 Games has already undergone several layoff cycles, the most recent occurring in July, shortly after Empulse’s launch. It remains uncertain whether the latest announcement will trigger additional reductions. From a broader industry perspective, the transition away from dedicated servers reflects a growing trend among smaller studios to reduce operational overhead.
Maintaining server farms for live‑service titles can be prohibitively expensive, especially when player counts dwindle. By shifting to P2P, developers can keep games alive with minimal ongoing costs, though this often comes at the expense of matchmaking quality, latency consistency, and anti‑cheat robustness. For the community, the change means that players who wish to continue enjoying Empulse or Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will need to adapt to a more hands‑on hosting model.
The server browser will list active hosts, and players can create private lobbies or join public ones directly. While this may introduce a learning curve for those accustomed to the seamless matchmaking of dedicated servers, it also offers greater control over match settings and can foster a more grassroots, community‑driven environment.
In summary, 1047 Games is winding down active development on its two most recent live‑service shooters, moving them to peer‑to‑peer hosting, and signaling a strategic pivot away from the high‑cost live‑service model that defined its past decade. The studio’s leadership emphasizes a continued passion for game creation, even as they explore new genres or business models that may better align with their resources and the evolving expectations of gamers.