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) networking model as of September 3. The decision reflects a broader strategic pivot away from the live‑service shooter model that the studio has pursued for the past decade. In a brief statement posted on X earlier today, the company explained that neither title is generating sufficient revenue to justify the ongoing expense of maintaining dedicated server infrastructure.
While the studio had continued to subsidise those costs in hopes that the games might eventually achieve a sustainable player base, it concluded that the financial burden had 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 announcement read, underscoring the emotional attachment the team feels toward the projects despite the hard business realities. Effective September 3, the dedicated servers and centralized 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 anyone to host a match and others to join. This shift ensures that the games remain playable even without the studio’s server farms.
As a parting gesture, Empulse will receive one final map addition and a price reduction across all regions, which the studio described as the "final update" for the title. The move mirrors a similar transition that occurred with the original Splitgate last year. After its dedicated servers were shut down, Splitgate migrated to P2P hosting and continues to be accessible on PC and console platforms. That experience likely informed the current decision to apply the same model to both of the studio’s remaining live‑service projects.
Splitgate 2, which launched in June 2025, quickly became embroiled in controversy. The game featured a politically charged "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a high‑priced $145 cosmetic bundle, sparking backlash from parts of the community. Within a month of release, 1047 Games announced layoffs affecting an undisclosed number of staff members.
A further round of cuts followed a month later when the title was rolled back to beta status, prompting a second wave of layoffs. Empulse, billed as a 6‑v‑6 movement‑focused shooter and positioned as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026. Its launch was followed by several rounds of staff reductions within weeks, indicating that the project struggled to meet the studio’s financial expectations from the outset. Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to signal a change in direction for the company.
After ten years centered on live‑service shooters, they said the studio’s 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," the 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." The public statement did not provide details about the current staffing situation, though the company has already undergone multiple layoff rounds, the most recent occurring in July, just weeks after Empulse’s early‑access debut. It remains uncertain whether the latest announcement will trigger additional reductions. Industry observers note that the shift away from dedicated servers is part of a larger trend among smaller studios that find the cost of operating persistent online infrastructures increasingly prohibitive, especially when player counts plateau or decline.
By moving to a P2P architecture, developers can keep games alive with minimal overhead, though the approach can introduce challenges such as increased latency, reliance on host players’ connection quality, and potential exposure to cheating. For the existing communities of Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, the transition means that they will need to adapt to a new matchmaking paradigm.
The server browser will give players more control over which matches they join, but it also places the responsibility of hosting onto individual users. Some fans have expressed concern that the quality of gameplay could suffer, while others are relieved that the titles will remain accessible rather than being shut down entirely.
Looking ahead, 1047 Games has hinted that its next venture may depart from the fast‑paced, competitive shooter genre altogether. While no concrete details have been released, the founders’ emphasis on “what we build next may look very different” suggests the studio could explore new IPs, perhaps in single‑player narratives, cooperative experiences, or even non‑gaming interactive media. Their extensive experience running live‑service ecosystems, managing player feedback loops, and iterating on game balance could prove valuable in any future endeavor.
In summary, 1047 Games is winding down active development on Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, shifting both to peer‑to‑peer hosting and offering a final content update for Empulse. The move underscores a strategic realignment away from the costly live‑service shooter model that defined the studio’s output for a decade. While the immediate impact on players will be a change in how matches are found and hosted, the longer‑term implications point toward a new creative direction for the company, one that may surprise both longtime fans and industry watchers alike.