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. The decision marks a clear pivot for the studio, which has spent the last 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 ongoing expenses of maintaining dedicated server infrastructure. While the studio had continued to subsidize those costs in an effort to give the titles a chance to grow their player bases, it now finds the model "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 and their fans.
Effective September 3, the dedicated servers and official matchmaking services for both Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will be shut down. Players will instead rely on a P2P system that includes a server browser, allowing individuals to host their own matches and locate others who are doing the same. As a parting gesture, Empulse will receive one final map addition and a universal price reduction across all regions, which the studio has billed as the "final update" for the game. This move mirrors a similar transition that the original Splitgate underwent last year.
After its dedicated servers were taken offline, the title shifted to a P2P architecture and remains fully playable today, even on console platforms. The precedent suggests that 1047 Games is attempting to keep the games alive in a more cost‑effective manner, albeit with reduced official support.
The background to this shift is fraught with turbulence. 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 community backlash.
Within a month of launch, the studio announced a round of layoffs, the size of which was not disclosed. A further month later, the game was rolled back to a beta state, prompting a second wave of staff reductions.
Empulse, positioned as a 6‑v‑6 movement shooter and often described as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access only in June 2026. Its debut was quickly followed by multiple rounds of layoffs, indicating that the studio was already feeling financial strain even before the recent announcement. Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the statement to signal a broader strategic realignment.
"After ten years of focusing on live‑service shooters, our focus is changing," they wrote. "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." The founders reflected on the company’s origins, noting that 1047 Games was founded a decade ago out of a shared passion for video games. "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," they said. Their message suggests that the studio intends to leverage the lessons learned from its live‑service experiments as it explores new genres or business models.
While the public announcement did not detail the current staffing situation, it is clear that the company has already endured several layoff cycles, the most recent occurring in July, just weeks after Empulse’s early‑access launch. It remains uncertain whether the cessation of active development on these two titles will trigger additional reductions.
The transition to peer‑to‑peer hosting will have several practical implications for players. Without dedicated servers, latency and matchmaking quality may become more variable, depending on the host’s connection and geographic location.
The server browser will give players more control over the environments they join, but it may also fragment the community as smaller, private lobbies emerge. For those who prefer a stable, centrally managed experience, the change could be a disappointment. From a business perspective, moving away from costly server maintenance aligns 1047 Games with a growing trend among mid‑size studios that find the live‑service model increasingly risky without a massive, consistently engaged player base.
By reducing overhead, the studio can reallocate resources toward new projects, experimental gameplay ideas, or perhaps a return to single‑player or smaller‑scale multiplayer experiences. In summary, 1047 Games is closing the development chapter on Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, shifting both titles to a peer‑to‑peer framework as of September 3.
The studio cites unsustainable server costs and a strategic pivot away from live‑service shooters after ten years of focus in that arena. While the move preserves the ability for fans to continue playing, it also signals a period of transition for the company, whose next venture may diverge significantly from the shooter‑centric portfolio that defined its first decade.