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) networking model as of September 3. The decision marks a clear pivot for the studio after a decade of focusing on live‑service shooters, a genre that has proven increasingly difficult to sustain financially.
In a brief post on X earlier today, the studio explained that neither Empulse nor Splitgate: Arena Reloaded were generating sufficient revenue to offset the ongoing expenses of maintaining dedicated server infrastructure. While 1047 Games had continued to subsidise those costs in the hope that the communities would eventually grow to a self‑sustaining size, the company now acknowledges that this approach has 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 statement read, underscoring the emotional attachment the developers have to their projects despite the harsh economic realities. Effective September 3, the dedicated servers and official matchmaking services for both titles will be shut down.
Players will instead rely on a P2P system that uses a server browser, allowing individuals to host their own matches and discover others’ sessions. This shift ensures that the games remain playable, albeit without the centralized matchmaking and stability that dedicated servers provide.
As part of what the studio calls the "final update" for Empulse, the game will receive one last new map and a universal price reduction across all regions, giving fans a small token of appreciation before the transition. The move mirrors a similar strategy employed with the original Splitgate, which also migrated to P2P hosting after its dedicated servers were retired last year. That title remains functional on PC and console, demonstrating that a community can continue to enjoy a game even after official support wanes.
Splitgate 2, released in June 2025, quickly became embroiled in controversy. The launch featured a politically charged "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a pricey $145 cosmetic bundle, sparking backlash from portions of the player base. Within a month of its release, 1047 Games announced an undisclosed round of layoffs, and a further month later the company pushed the title back into a beta state and initiated a second wave of staff reductions.
These events highlighted the volatility of the live‑service model, where rapid content cycles and monetisation strategies can backfire. Empulse, marketed as a 6‑v‑6 movement shooter and spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026. Its launch was followed by multiple rounds of layoffs within weeks, indicating that the game struggled to meet revenue expectations despite its ambitious design and the studio’s reputation. Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to signal a broader strategic shift.
"We started 1047 Games ten years ago because we love video games," they 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 statement did not provide specifics about future staffing levels, but the studio has already undergone several layoff rounds, the most recent occurring in July, shortly after Empulse’s launch. It remains uncertain whether the latest announcement will precipitate additional reductions. From a broader industry perspective, 1047 Games' decision reflects a growing skepticism about the long‑term viability of live‑service shooters, especially for mid‑size developers.
Maintaining dedicated servers incurs substantial ongoing costs, and if a game's player base plateaus or declines, the revenue generated from cosmetics, battle passes, or other microtransactions may not cover those expenses. By shifting to P2P hosting, developers can drastically cut operational overhead while still offering a playable experience, albeit one that may suffer from increased latency, host advantage, and a less polished matchmaking system. For the community, the transition means that players will need to be more proactive in finding matches, possibly coordinating through external forums, Discord servers, or the in‑game browser. While this can foster tighter-knit groups and a more grassroots matchmaking environment, it also places the burden of server stability on individual hosts, which can lead to inconsistent performance.
In summary, 1047 Games is winding down active development on Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, moving both titles to peer‑to‑peer hosting as of September 3. The studio cites unsustainable server costs and insufficient revenue as the primary drivers.
The final Empulse update includes a new map and a price cut, while Splitgate continues to run on its new P2P architecture. The announcement also hints at a strategic pivot away from live‑service shooters, with the founders promising that future projects may diverge significantly from the studio's past output, though the exact direction remains to be seen.