1047 Games has announced that it will stop active development on its two flagship shooters, Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded. Starting September 3, both games will move from dedicated server infrastructure to a peer‑to‑peer (P2P) model, signaling the studio’s broader decision to step back from the live‑service shooter genre after a decade of focus. In a brief statement posted to X earlier today, the developers explained that the revenue generated by the two titles no longer covers the ongoing expenses associated with maintaining dedicated servers.
While the company had continued to subsidise those costs in the hope that the games would eventually become self‑sustaining, it now acknowledges that this approach is "no longer sustainable." The announcement expressed genuine affection for the projects, noting, "We have loved working on these games, playing them, and building them with this community, and we wish we could continue supporting them." Effective September 3, the dedicated server back‑ends and official matchmaking services for Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will be shut down. Players will instead rely on a P2P architecture that uses a server browser, allowing individuals to host their own matches and discover others’ sessions. To give the community a proper send‑off, Empulse will receive a final new map and a universal price reduction across all regions as part of what the studio calls the "final update" for the title. This is not the first time 1047 Games has transitioned a title to peer‑to‑peer hosting.
The original Splitgate made the same shift last year after its dedicated servers were decommissioned, and the game remains fully playable on PC and consoles under the new model. The background to these decisions is rooted in a turbulent period for the studio. 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 sparked backlash from portions of the community. Within a month of release, 1047 Games announced an undisclosed round of layoffs, and a further wave of staff reductions followed when the game was rolled back to beta status just weeks later.
Empulse, marketed as a 6‑v‑6 movement‑focused shooter and positioned as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026. The title’s launch was quickly followed by multiple rounds of layoffs, underscoring the financial strain the studio was experiencing. Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to outline a strategic pivot.
After ten years of building live‑service shooters, they said the studio’s focus is "changing" and that 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," they 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’s early‑access debut. It remains uncertain whether the latest announcement will precipitate additional reductions.
By moving both Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded to a P2P framework, 1047 Games hopes to keep the communities alive without the heavy financial burden of server maintenance. Players will need to rely on the in‑game server browser to find matches, and the quality of connections may vary based on host performance and geographic distance. The final content push for Empulse—a new map and a price cut—serves as a parting gift to the player base, offering fresh gameplay before the official support window closes.
The shift away from live‑service shooters reflects a broader industry trend where smaller studios reassess the viability of maintaining costly server ecosystems, especially when player counts plateau or decline. For 1047 Games, the decision appears to be a pragmatic response to fiscal realities, coupled with a desire to explore new creative directions after a decade of operating within a single genre.
Fans of the two titles will now have to adapt to the new hosting model, but the games will remain playable. The studio’s future roadmap is still vague, but the co‑founders’ emphasis on passion for game development suggests that new projects—potentially in different genres or with alternative monetisation strategies—could be on the horizon. As the live‑service era recedes for 1047 Games, the community watches closely to see what the next chapter will bring.