1047 Games has announced that it will cease active development on its two flagship titles, Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded. The decision comes as the studio signals a strategic pivot away from the live‑service shooter model that has defined its work for the past decade. Effective September 3, both games will abandon their dedicated server infrastructure in favor of a peer‑to‑peer (P2P) networking system, allowing players to continue matchmaking through a built‑in server browser. 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 servers.
While 1047 Games had continued to subsidize those costs in the hope that the games would eventually achieve a sustainable player base, the studio concluded that the financial burden had become 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 announcement read.
From September 3 onward, the dedicated server back‑ends for Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will be decommissioned. Players will instead rely on a peer‑to‑peer architecture, which means that individual users will host their own matches and discover them via a server browser. This shift ensures that the games remain playable even without the studio’s server support. As a parting gesture, Empulse will receive one final map addition and a price reduction across all regions, bundled into what the developers have dubbed the "final update" for the title.
The move mirrors a similar transition that the original Splitgate underwent last year. After its dedicated servers were shut down, the game migrated to a P2P model and continues to be accessible on PC and console platforms. That experience likely informed the current decision, providing a proven pathway for keeping the titles alive without the costly server infrastructure.
Splitgate 2, released in June 2025, quickly became embroiled in controversy. The launch featured a "Make FPS Great Again" hat reminiscent of political slogans and a $145 cosmetic bundle that sparked backlash among the 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 pushed the game back into beta status and initiated a second wave of staff reductions, signaling deep operational challenges. 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 followed by several rounds of layoffs within weeks, underscoring the difficulty of sustaining development momentum under the live‑service paradigm. Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to articulate a broader shift in the company's creative direction. After ten years of concentrating on live‑service shooters, they indicated that future projects may look markedly different from anything previously associated with 1047 Games.
"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 the current staffing situation, although the company has already undergone multiple rounds of layoffs, the most recent occurring in July—just weeks after Empulse’s early‑access launch. It remains uncertain whether the latest announcement will precipitate additional reductions.
In summary, 1047 Games is winding down active development on Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, transitioning both titles to peer‑to‑peer hosting to keep them playable without dedicated server support. The studio’s leadership frames this as part of a larger strategic reorientation away from the live‑service shooter model that has dominated its portfolio for a decade. While the future of the company’s staffing remains unclear, the founders emphasize a continued passion for game creation and a willingness to apply hard‑won lessons to new, potentially very different, ventures.