1047 Games announced that it will stop active development on its two flagship titles, Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, and will move both projects to a peer‑to‑peer (P2P) networking model as of September 3. The decision marks a significant strategic pivot for the studio after a decade of focusing on live‑service shooter experiences. In a brief statement posted to X earlier today, the developers explained that the revenue generated by the two games no longer covers the ongoing expense of maintaining dedicated server infrastructure.
While the company had continued to subsidise those costs in an effort to give each title a chance to find a larger audience, it ultimately concluded that the model was "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 studio wrote. "Unfortunately, the financial realities force us to change course." Effective September 3, the dedicated servers and the associated matchmaking services for Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded will be shut down.
Players will instead be able to host matches themselves via a built‑in server browser, allowing the communities to keep playing even without the studio‑run back‑end. As part of what the company labeled the "final update" for Empulse, the team will also release one last new map and apply a price reduction across all regions.
This move mirrors the transition that the original Splitgate underwent last year. After its dedicated servers were taken offline, Splitgate switched to a P2P architecture and remains fully playable on PC and consoles. The precedent suggests that, while the experience may shift slightly—particularly in terms of latency and matchmaking convenience—the core gameplay will continue to be accessible to fans. The background to this decision 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 high‑priced $145 cosmetic bundle. Within weeks of launch, 1047 Games announced a round of layoffs, the exact number of affected staff remaining undisclosed. A month later the company pushed the title back into a beta state and initiated a second wave of reductions, signaling deeper financial strain. Empulse, positioned as a 6‑v‑6 movement shooter and often described as a spiritual successor to Titanfall, entered early access in June 2026.
The title's release was quickly followed by multiple rounds of staff cuts, reflecting the same fiscal pressures that plagued Splitgate 2. Both games struggled to attract a sustainable player base, making the cost of dedicated server upkeep untenable. Co‑founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian used the announcement to outline the studio's new direction.
"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 it is known that the studio has already undergone several layoff cycles, the most recent occurring in July, just weeks after Empulse's early‑access launch. It remains uncertain whether the latest pivot will trigger additional reductions.
From a broader industry perspective, 1047 Games' shift away from the live‑service shooter model reflects a growing awareness of the high operational costs associated with dedicated server maintenance, especially for titles that fail to achieve a critical mass of paying players. Peer‑to‑peer hosting dramatically reduces ongoing expenses, but it also transfers some responsibilities to the player community, such as ensuring stable connections and dealing with potential cheating concerns.
Many developers have opted for hybrid solutions, retaining dedicated servers for ranked play while offering P2P options for casual matches. For fans of Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, the transition means that the games will remain playable, albeit with a different online experience. The final map addition for Empulse and the price cut are gestures aimed at rewarding the remaining community and encouraging new players to give the games a try before the server infrastructure is fully retired. Looking ahead, the co‑founders hinted that the studio's next project could diverge sharply from its shooter‑centric legacy.
While no concrete details have been released, the emphasis on "changing focus" suggests that 1047 Games may explore new genres, platforms, or business models that better align with current market dynamics and the lessons learned over the past decade. 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, and providing a final content update for Empulse. The decision underscores the financial challenges of sustaining dedicated server costs for live‑service shooters that do not generate sufficient revenue, and it signals a strategic reorientation for the studio as it prepares for its next creative chapter.