Splitgate 2 launched on June 6 throughout Summer time Sport Fest, however the less-than-stellar reception from gamers since has prompted developer 1047 Video games to return to the drafting board. This implies the studio is taking the free-to-play portal-jumping shooter again to beta, which has resulted in numerous layoffs on the studio.
A prolonged Steam put up penned by 1047 founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian states that the damaging participant suggestions has made them notice the sport “launched too early” and should have been too bold. “We rushed sure options, made some boneheaded errors, and most significantly – we did not provide the polished, portal-filled mayhem you fell in love with,” reads the assertion.
Splitgate 2 will now return to a playable beta kind, with 1047 going “heads down” till early 2026 to considerably rebuild the sport. This consists of, amongst different modifications, remodeling the development programs from scratch, including extra portals to maps, simplifying monetization, and refocusing on traditional recreation modes. Throughout this time, 1047 plans to host extra playtests and ship extra surveys to collect as a lot group suggestions as potential. The studio additionally guarantees it’s going to nonetheless ship Chapter 3 of the sport.
Sadly, 1047 states that this long-term shift in route requires lowering an unknown variety of studio roles to maneuver growth assets in the direction of this rework. The developer guarantees affected workers will obtain severance and job placement assist and hopes to “convey them again once we can.”
To retain as a lot employees as potential and save prices, 1047 can also be shutting down the servers for the unique Splitgate in a single month; the precise date is unknown. “Whereas we would like to hold servers on-line indefinitely, it is price us a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars} over the previous couple of years, and we’ve to prioritize our group,” reads the assertion. 1047 says it is exploring supporting offline or peer-to-peer matches for followers of the primary recreation.
It’s been a tough launch for Splitgate 2. On prime of gamers not having fun with the sport almost as a lot because the 2019 authentic, which at one level was so widespread on consoles that its servers routinely crashed as a consequence of full participant capacities, the sport suffered a PR blow stemming from co-founder Ian Proulx’s stage look through the Summer time Sport Fest Showcase.
Whereas selling Splitgate 2’s launch on stage, Proulx wore a hat bearing the message “Make FPS Nice Once more”, a play on the slogan of the polarizing MAGA motion. Many seen this reference as tone deaf and insensitive amid the ICE raids occurring in Los Angeles (the place SGF takes place) throughout that point, which ignited a number of protests within the metropolis. Proulx’s look garnered vital backlash from some gamers and trade friends, with many vowing by no means to play Splitgate 2 because of this. After initially making an attempt to make clear his actions, Proulx would later subject a video apology.
“We have confronted a whole lot of darkish days and have made many errors, however we have realized rather a lot and are as decided as ever to make Splitgate as nice as potential,” reads 1047’s Steam replace. “Splitgate has been our life for 10 years, and we would not have it some other means. We have work to do, however we aren’t giving up.”
