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, which has spent the past decade concentrating on live‑service first‑person 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 expenses associated with maintaining dedicated server infrastructure. While the studio had continued to subsidise those costs in an effort to give the titles a chance to grow their player bases, it ultimately concluded that the financial model 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 bittersweet tone of the news.
Effective September 3, the dedicated servers and the associated 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, allowing anyone to host a match and others to join it directly. To give the community a proper send‑off, Empulse will receive one final new map and a price reduction across all regions as part of what the studio has dubbed the "final update" for the game. This move mirrors the path taken with the original Splitgate, which also transitioned to P2P hosting after its dedicated servers were retired last year.
That version of Splitgate remains fully playable on PC and consoles, demonstrating that a P2P model can keep a game alive even after official server support ends. Splitgate 2, released in June 2025, quickly became a lightning rod for controversy. The launch was accompanied by a politically charged "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a high‑priced $145 cosmetic bundle that sparked backlash among players. Within a month of the release, 1047 Games announced layoffs affecting an undisclosed number of staff members.
A further month later the studio placed the title back into a beta phase and initiated a second round of cuts, indicating ongoing financial strain. Empulse, marketed as a 6‑vs‑6 movement‑focused shooter and often described as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026.
The title showed promise with its fast‑paced gameplay and parkour‑style mechanics, but it too suffered from a series of layoffs that unfolded over the weeks following its debut. The repeated reductions in workforce suggest that the studio has been grappling with cash‑flow challenges across multiple projects. Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to signal a broader reorientation for the company.
After ten years of building live‑service shooters, they said the studio's focus is now "changing," and that whatever they develop next "may look very different" from the expectations that have been built around the 1047 Games brand. "We started 1047 Games ten years ago because we love video games," the founders wrote.
"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 statement did not provide specifics about the current staffing situation, although the company has already undergone several rounds of layoffs, the most recent occurring in July—just weeks after Empulse launched.
It remains unclear whether the latest announcement will trigger additional reductions or if the studio will stabilize its workforce as it transitions to a new development paradigm. Industry observers note that the shift away from dedicated servers is a pragmatic response to the high operational costs of running live‑service environments, especially when player counts dwindle.
Peer‑to‑peer hosting dramatically reduces server expenses, but it also places more responsibility on individual players to host stable sessions, which can affect matchmaking quality and overall player experience. For the community, the transition means that anyone can now create a lobby, select maps, and invite friends without relying on a central server. While this democratizes match creation, it may also introduce challenges such as increased latency, host advantage, and potential security concerns.
The final map update for Empulse and the price cut are intended to reward loyal players and encourage continued engagement despite the reduced infrastructure. Looking ahead, 1047 Games appears poised to explore new genres or business models that do not depend on the costly live‑service framework that defined its recent history.
Whether the studio will pivot toward single‑player experiences, smaller multiplayer titles, or perhaps even venture into emerging technologies like cloud gaming remains to be seen. What is clear is that the company is willing to adapt, drawing on a decade of development experience and a sizable player base that has supported its projects. In summary, 1047 Games is winding down active development on Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, shifting both games to a peer‑to‑peer architecture as of September 3.
The move follows a period of financial pressure, multiple layoffs, and community controversy. While the future direction of the studio is still uncertain, the founders reaffirm their passion for game creation and hint at a potentially different creative path moving forward.