SplitGate: Arena Reloaded and Empulse cease development as 1047 Games pivots from live-services

1047 Games has had an unfortunate string of back luck in recent years, with the team behind the highly-successful SplitGate abandoning the title in favour of a more comprehensive sequel – a sequel which would wind up with a plethora of controversies. The team would then try to bring back Titanfall with their movement-shooter Empulse earlier this year. Unfortunately, both projects appear to have failed to meet expectations, with both SplitGate: Arena Reloaded and Empulse officially ending active development.

Taking to Twitter to make the announcement, the team at 1047 Games released a lengthy statement, writing: “Today, we have some difficult news to share: we are ending active development on Empulse and Splitgate: Arena Reloaded. This is a hard update for us to write. We love these games, and we know this will be disappointing and frustrating for a lot of people.”

Explaining their reasons behind the decision, the team continued, “The reality is that neither game is generating enough revenue to support the ongoing cost of dedicated servers. We have continued covering those costs because we wanted to give both games every opportunity to grow, but we have reached the point where that is no longer sustainable.”

While an unfortunate announcement; especially given the fact that the team at 1047 Games have a clear love for the genre; both SplitGate and Empulse will live on to some degree, with the team adding that: “On Thursday, September 3, both games will move to peer-to-peer hosting with a server browser. Dedicated servers and matchmaking will shut down, but players will still be able to host matches, find games, and play with friends forever.”

Additionally, Empulse (which was a paid product unlike SplitGate) will be receiving one final update, bringing in a new map while permanently dropping the price.

In terms of what’s next for 1047 Games, the team have revealed that they are understandably moving away from live-services, writing: “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.”

KitGuru says: What do you think of 1047 Games? Did their infamous “Make Games Great Again” stunt do more harm than good? What do you hope is next in store for the team? Let us know down below.

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