1047 Games has announced that it will cease active development on its two flagship titles, Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded. The company also revealed that, as of September 3, both games will no longer rely on dedicated server infrastructure; instead, they will move to a peer‑to‑peer (P2P) model with a built‑in server browser to let players host and locate matches themselves. This decision marks a clear pivot for the studio, which has spent the past decade concentrating on live‑service shooter experiences.
In a brief statement posted to X earlier today, the studio explained that the revenue generated by the two titles fell short of covering 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 leadership concluded that the financial strain 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 post read, underscoring the bittersweet nature of the announcement.
Effective September 3, the dedicated server back‑ends and the associated matchmaking services for Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will be shut down. Players will be redirected to a P2P system that relies on a server browser, allowing anyone with a stable internet connection to host a match and invite others. To give the community a final boost, Empulse will receive one last new map and a price reduction across all regions, which the studio has labeled the "final update" for the title.
This approach is not unprecedented for 1047 Games. The original Splitgate made a similar transition last year after its dedicated servers were taken offline, and the game continues to be playable on PC and console under the P2P model. The company appears to be applying a consistent strategy: when a live‑service shooter can no longer justify the cost of dedicated infrastructure, it is shifted to a community‑driven hosting solution rather than being retired outright. The background to this shift is rooted in a turbulent period for the studio.
Splitgate 2 launched in June 2025 amid a wave of controversy, including the release of a politically charged "Make FPS Great Again" hat and a $145 cosmetic bundle that drew criticism from both players and industry observers. Within weeks of launch, 1047 Games announced a round of layoffs whose size was not disclosed.
A month later, the company moved the title back into a beta phase and initiated a second wave of staff reductions, signaling deeper challenges in sustaining the project's momentum. Empulse, marketed 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 several rounds of layoffs, reflecting the studio's struggle to balance development costs with a relatively modest player base. Despite the hype surrounding its high‑velocity gameplay and parkour‑style mechanics, the title failed to generate the level of recurring revenue needed to keep dedicated servers running. Founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to articulate a broader strategic shift.
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," the co‑founders 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." While the statement does not directly address the current staffing situation, it is worth noting that the studio has already undergone multiple layoffs, the most recent occurring in July—just weeks after Empulse's early‑access launch. It remains uncertain whether the latest announcement will trigger additional reductions, but the pattern suggests that the company is actively reshaping its workforce to align with the new strategic direction.
In summary, 1047 Games is winding down active development on Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, moving both titles to a peer‑to‑peer hosting framework to keep them playable without the expense of dedicated servers. The decision reflects a larger industry trend where studios reassess the viability of live‑service models, especially when revenue fails to offset operational costs.
As the company looks ahead, its founders emphasize a renewed commitment to game creation driven by passion rather than the pressures of maintaining costly server ecosystems. The next chapter for 1047 Games is still unwritten, but the leadership assures the community that the lessons learned over the past decade will inform whatever new experiences they choose to build.