1047 Games has announced that it will cease active development on both Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, moving the two titles to a peer‑to‑peer (P2P) hosting model as of September 3. The decision marks a clear pivot for the studio after a decade of concentrating on live‑service shooter experiences. In a brief statement posted to X earlier today, the company explained that the revenue generated by the two games no longer covers the ongoing expenses associated with maintaining dedicated server infrastructure.
While the studio had continued to subsidize these costs in the hope that the titles would eventually become self‑sustaining, it now acknowledges that this approach is "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 developers have to their projects despite the harsh financial realities. 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 that utilizes a server browser, allowing them to host their own matches and find opponents directly.
As a parting gesture, Empulse will receive one final map addition and a universal price reduction across all regions, which the studio has labeled the game's "final update." This transition mirrors the path taken by the original Splitgate last year. After its dedicated servers were retired, that title also moved to P2P hosting and remains fully playable on PC and console platforms. The shift to P2P is a cost‑saving measure that places the responsibility for hosting on individual players rather than on the company’s server farms.
The background to these changes is rooted in a turbulent period for 1047 Games. Splitgate 2 launched in June 2025 amid a wave of controversy, including a politically charged "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a $145 cosmetic bundle that drew criticism from the community. Within a month of release, the studio announced an undisclosed round of layoffs, followed shortly thereafter by a decision to revert the game back to beta status and initiate 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 in June 2026. Its launch was quickly followed by multiple rounds of layoffs, reflecting the broader financial strain the company was experiencing.
Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian addressed the shift in strategy, stating that after ten years of building live‑service shooters, the studio’s focus is now "changing" and that future projects may look very different from what fans have come to expect from 1047 Games. They emphasized that the core motivation— a love for making games—remains unchanged, and that the lessons learned over the past decade will inform whatever comes next.
"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, although it is known that the studio has already undergone several rounds of layoffs, 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. In summary, 1047 Games is winding down active development on Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, shifting both titles to a peer‑to‑peer architecture to cut operating costs.
The move follows a series of financial challenges, community backlash, and workforce cuts that have plagued the studio since the launch of Splitgate 2. While the future direction of the company is still vague, the founders reaffirm their commitment to game creation and hint at a potential departure from the live‑service shooter formula that defined their first decade.