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) hosting model as of September 3. The decision marks a significant strategic pivot for the studio, which has spent the past decade concentrating on live‑service shooter experiences. In a brief statement posted on X earlier today, the developers explained that the revenue generated by the two games no longer covers the expenses associated with maintaining dedicated server infrastructure.
While the company had previously subsidised those costs in an effort to give each title a chance to grow its player base, it now acknowledges that continuing to do so 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, underscoring the emotional connection it feels toward its audience despite the hard business realities.
Effective September 3, the dedicated servers and official matchmaking services for Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will be decommissioned. Players will instead rely on a P2P system that includes a server browser, allowing individuals to host their own matches and discover others’ sessions. To give Empulse a proper send‑off, the final update will add a new map and apply a price reduction across all regions, a move the company described as the "last update" for the title. This transition mirrors a similar shift the studio made with the original Splitgate last year.
After its dedicated servers were shut down, Splitgate migrated to P2P hosting and remains fully playable today on both PC and console platforms. The precedent suggests that 1047 Games aims to keep its games accessible even after official support winds down, albeit with a reduced level of service.
The background to this announcement is a turbulent period for the studio. Splitgate 2 launched in June 2025 amid a storm of controversy, including the release of a politically charged "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a $145 cosmetic bundle that sparked backlash from the community.
Within weeks of launch, the company announced a wave of layoffs, the size of which was not disclosed. A further round of staff reductions followed a month later when the game was rolled back to beta status, prompting another round of layoffs. Empulse, positioned as a 6v6, high‑mobility shooter and often described as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026.
Its debut was quickly followed by multiple rounds of workforce cuts, reflecting the studio's ongoing struggle to balance development costs with revenue streams. Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the recent statement to signal a broader change in 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, but what has not changed is why we are here: we love making games," they said. The founders highlighted that more than 25 million players have experienced their games over the past decade, and many of those interactions have turned into lasting friendships. While the announcement does not explicitly detail the current staffing situation, it follows a pattern of repeated layoffs, the most recent occurring in July—just weeks after Empulse’s early‑access launch. It remains uncertain whether the shift away from live‑service models will lead to additional reductions or a restructuring of the development teams.
The move to peer‑to‑peer hosting carries several implications for the player community. On the positive side, it ensures that the games remain playable without the need for centralized server maintenance, potentially extending their lifespan for dedicated fans.
However, P2P architectures can introduce challenges such as increased latency, reliance on host players' hardware quality, and a higher susceptibility to cheating, as there is no central authority to enforce anti‑cheat measures as robustly as dedicated servers. From a business perspective, the decision underscores the difficulty of sustaining live‑service shooters in a market that has become increasingly saturated.
Maintaining dedicated servers is a costly endeavor, and without a steady stream of microtransactions, battle passes, or cosmetic sales that meet or exceed operating costs, even well‑received titles can become financial liabilities. By transitioning to a lower‑cost hosting model, 1047 Games can reduce overhead while still honoring its existing player base. Looking ahead, the studio’s leadership hinted at a possible diversification of its portfolio. The phrase "changing focus" suggests that future projects might explore different genres, business models, or platforms.
Whether this will involve single‑player narratives, cooperative experiences, or entirely new multiplayer frameworks remains speculative, but the emphasis on passion for game creation indicates that the company intends to stay active in the industry. In summary, 1047 Games is winding down active development on Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, moving both titles to peer‑to‑peer hosting as of September 3. The shift reflects broader financial pressures and a strategic decision to move away from the live‑service shooter model that defined the studio for a decade. While the community will lose dedicated server support, the games will remain accessible through a server‑browser system, and Empulse will receive a final map and a price cut as a parting gesture.
The announcement also signals a potential reorientation for the studio, with the founders expressing optimism about future projects that may differ markedly from their past offerings, even as they continue to champion the core love of making games.