1047 Games 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 after a decade spent primarily on live‑service shooter projects. In a brief statement posted to X earlier today, the company explained that the revenue generated by the two titles no longer covers the ongoing expenses associated with maintaining dedicated server infrastructure. While the studio had continued to subsidize those costs in an effort to give the games a chance to find a larger audience, it ultimately concluded that this approach had become financially untenable.
"We have loved working on these games, playing them, and building them with this community, and we wish we could continue supporting them," the post read. "Unfortunately, the economics no longer work in our favor." Effective September 3, the dedicated servers and official matchmaking services for Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will be shut down. Players will still be able to enjoy the games, but they will have to rely on a P2P system that includes a server browser, allowing users to host their own matches and discover others' sessions.
As a parting gesture, Empulse will receive a final new map and a price reduction across all regions, which the studio described as the game's last update. This is not the first time 1047 Games has transitioned a title to P2P hosting. The original Splitgate made the same switch last year after its dedicated servers were retired, and the game remains fully playable on both PC and console platforms. The background to these moves is rooted in a turbulent period for the studio.
Splitgate 2 launched in June 2025 amid a wave of controversy, most notably the inclusion of a "Make FPS Great Again" hat—a clear nod to political satire—and a $145 cosmetic bundle that many players found excessive. Within weeks of the launch, the company announced a round of layoffs, though the exact number of affected staff members was not disclosed.
A 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 in June 2026.
Its debut was quickly followed by multiple rounds of layoffs, reflecting the studio's ongoing struggle to balance development costs with revenue streams. Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to signal a broader strategic shift.
"After ten years of focusing on live‑service shooters, our focus is changing," they said. "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 founders reflected on the studio'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 added.
While the statement did not directly address the current staffing situation, it is worth noting that the company has already undergone several layoffs, the most recent occurring in July—just weeks after Empulse's early‑access launch. It remains unclear whether the latest announcement will trigger additional reductions. The transition to peer‑to‑peer hosting is a pragmatic solution that allows the existing player bases to keep playing without the overhead of dedicated server maintenance. However, it also signals a departure from the studio's previous business model, which relied heavily on continuous content updates, microtransactions, and server‑based matchmaking to generate steady income.
Industry observers see this move as part of a larger trend where mid‑size developers reassess the viability of live‑service games, especially when the costs of server upkeep outpace the revenue from a relatively niche audience. For players, the shift means they will need to be more proactive in finding matches, but it also opens the door to community‑run servers and potentially more flexible modding opportunities.
Looking ahead, 1047 Games has hinted that its next project could diverge significantly from the shooter genre that has defined its brand for the past ten years. Whether this will involve a return to single‑player experiences, a venture into different genres, or an entirely new approach to game development remains to be seen. What is clear is that the studio intends to leverage the lessons learned from its live‑service experiments while staying true to its core mission of creating games that resonate with players.
In summary, the cessation of active development on Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, combined with the shift to peer‑to‑peer hosting, marks the end of an era for 1047 Games. The studio is now poised to explore new creative directions, guided by a decade of experience and a continued love for game making.