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 post penned by 1047 founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian states that the destructive participant suggestions has made them understand the sport “launched too early” and will 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 type, with 1047 going “heads down” till early 2026 to considerably rebuild the sport. This consists of, amongst different adjustments, transforming the development methods from scratch, including extra portals to maps, simplifying monetization, and refocusing on traditional sport modes. Throughout this time, 1047 plans to host extra playtests and ship extra surveys to collect as a lot neighborhood suggestions as attainable. The studio additionally guarantees it should nonetheless ship Chapter 3 of the sport.
Sadly, 1047 states that this long-term shift in course requires lowering an unknown variety of studio roles to maneuver improvement sources in direction of this rework. The developer guarantees affected staff will obtain severance and job placement help and hopes to “carry them again after we can.”
To retain as a lot employees as attainable 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 might like to preserve servers on-line indefinitely, it is price us a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} over the previous couple of years, and we have now to prioritize our group,” reads the assertion. 1047 says it is exploring supporting offline or peer-to-peer matches for followers of the primary sport.
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 fashionable on consoles that its servers routinely crashed attributable to full participant capacities, the sport suffered a PR blow stemming from co-founder Ian Proulx’s stage appearance in the course of 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 considered 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 important 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 clarify his actions, Proulx would later difficulty a video apology.
“We have confronted plenty of darkish days and have made many errors, however we have realized quite a bit and are as decided as ever to make Splitgate as nice as attainable,” reads 1047’s Steam replace. “Splitgate has been our life for 10 years, and we would not have it some other manner. We have got work to do, however we aren’t giving up.”