1047 Games has announced that it will cease active development on its two flagship titles, Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, and will move both games to a peer‑to‑peer (P2P) networking model as of September 3. The decision marks a significant pivot for the studio after a decade spent primarily 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 titles no longer covers the ongoing expense of maintaining dedicated server infrastructure. While the studio had continued to subsidise those costs in the hope that the games might eventually achieve a sustainable player base, 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 post read, underscoring the bittersweet nature of the announcement. 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 complemented by a server browser that allows them to locate and host matches themselves. To give the community a proper send‑off, Empulse will receive one final map addition and a universal price reduction across all regions, which the studio has dubbed the "final update" for the title.
This transition mirrors a similar move the studio made with the original Splitgate last year. After its dedicated servers were retired, Splitgate shifted to P2P hosting and remains fully 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 1047 Games. 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 criticism from both players and industry observers. Within weeks, the company announced a wave of layoffs, the size of which was not disclosed.
A month later, the title was rolled back to a beta state, prompting a second round of staff reductions. Empulse, positioned as a 6v6 movement‑shooter and often described as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026. Its debut was followed by multiple layoff rounds within a matter of weeks, further destabilising the studio's development pipeline.
Founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian addressed the broader strategic shift in a separate statement. They emphasized that after ten years of concentrating on live‑service shooters, the studio's focus is evolving, and future projects may look markedly different from what fans have come to expect from 1047 Games.
"We started 1047 Games ten years ago because we love video games," the co‑founders 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." While the announcement does not specify any immediate staffing changes, it follows a pattern of layoffs that have already hit the studio multiple times, most recently in July, just weeks after Empulse's early‑access launch. It remains uncertain whether the shift away from live‑service titles will lead to additional reductions or a restructuring of the development teams. The move to peer‑to‑peer hosting reflects a broader industry trend where smaller studios, unable to sustain the high operational costs of dedicated servers, opt for more cost‑effective networking solutions.
P2P can keep a game alive for its community, but it often comes with trade‑offs such as increased latency, reliance on player‑hosted sessions, and potential security concerns. By providing a server browser, 1047 Games hopes to mitigate some of these issues, giving players the tools to find stable hosts and maintain a functional matchmaking experience. For fans of Empulse, the final map and price cut serve as a modest farewell gesture, allowing new players to experience the game at a reduced cost while giving existing fans a last piece of content to enjoy. Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, meanwhile, will continue to be accessible via the P2P model, preserving its core gameplay loop for those who have invested time in its arena battles.
Overall, the announcement signals the end of an era for 1047 Games. After a decade of chasing the live‑service model—a strategy that once seemed promising but has become increasingly risky—the studio appears ready to explore new directions. Whether that involves smaller, single‑player experiences, narrative‑driven titles, or a completely different genre remains to be seen. What is clear is that the company’s passion for game development endures, even as its business model undergoes a fundamental transformation.