1047 Games announced that it will stop 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 significant pivot for the studio, which has spent the past decade concentrating on live‑service first‑person shooters.
In a brief statement posted to X earlier today, the company explained that the revenue generated by the two games no longer covers the expenses associated with maintaining dedicated server infrastructure. While the studio had continued to subsidise those costs in hopes that the titles would eventually become self‑sustaining, it 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 developers wrote, underscoring the emotional connection they feel toward their player base. 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 uses a server browser, allowing individuals to host their own matches and discover others' sessions.
As a parting gesture, Empulse will receive a final new map and a universal price reduction across all regions, which the studio has labelled the "final update" for the game. This move mirrors the studio’s earlier handling of the original Splitgate.
After the original’s dedicated servers were taken offline last year, the title was transitioned to P2P hosting and remains playable on PC and consoles. That transition demonstrated that the company can keep a game alive without centralised servers, albeit with a reduced level of service. The background to this shift is worth noting. Splitgate 2 launched in June 2025 amid a wave of controversy.
The promotional material featured a politically charged "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a $145 cosmetic bundle that sparked backlash across the gaming community. Within a month of release, 1047 Games announced a round of layoffs, the size of which was not disclosed. A further month later, the studio moved the title back into a beta state and initiated a second wave of staff reductions, signaling deep internal challenges. Empulse, billed as a 6‑vs‑6 movement shooter and described by the developers as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026.
The launch was quickly followed by several rounds of layoffs, reflecting the same financial pressures that plagued Splitgate 2. The game’s ambitious mechanics and high production values required substantial server costs, which the company could no longer justify given its revenue streams.
Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to outline a broader strategic reorientation. 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. They emphasized that the core motivation—"we love making games"—remains unchanged, and that the lessons learned from 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 statement did not provide specific details about the current staffing situation.
However, the studio has already undergone multiple 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 or if the company will stabilize its workforce as it transitions to a new development model. In summary, 1047 Games is winding down active support for Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, shifting both titles to a peer‑to‑peer architecture to keep them playable without the overhead of dedicated servers.
The move reflects broader financial realities and a strategic pivot away from the live‑service shooter genre that defined the studio for a decade. While the future direction of 1047 Games is still vague, the founders assure the community that their passion for game creation endures, and that the experiences gained over the past ten years will shape whatever comes next.