Splitgate 2will be unlaunched andSplitgate 1will be shut down amid layoffs at studio 1047 Games, which have affected over 40 employees at the studio. Despite having a successful beta,Splitgate 2did not garner a player base nearly as high as the peak player count of the originalSplitgategame on Steam, due to various factors.
Splitgate 2faced backlash after its June 6th launch due to its expensive microtransactions and lack of compelling features compared to the original game. After considering player feedback in the days following the game’s launch,1047 Games halved the in-game costs of microtransactions inSplitgate 2, but as Steam charts have indicated in the months after this change, the game is struggling to grow its player base. As a result,Splitgate 2is going back to the drawing board.
In a new post on the game’s official Twitter account, 1047 Games co-founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian confirmed thatSplitgate 2will be unlaunched and heading back into beta to address player feedback and rebuild major parts of the game. The developers agreed with players after receiving their feedback, admitting that they launchedSplitgate 2"too early" with rushed features and mistakes. As reported byIGN,Splitgate 2will return in 2026 with “big, sweeping changes.” There will be more playtests, surveys, and other ways that theSplitgatedevelopers can interact with the community. However, 1047 Games confirmed that the company made the “incredibly difficult decision” to reduce certain roles and shift resources towards the rework ofSplitgate 2, resulting in 45 employees being laid off. This is the second round of layoffs followingdepartures from theSplitgate 2studiothis past June.
Splitgate 2 is Being Unlaunched and Splitgate 1 is Being Shut Down in the Next Month
Moreover, 1047 Games confirmed thatthe originalSplitgategamewill be shut down in about a month’s time, likely within August. According to Proulx and Bagamian, the developers would like to keep theSplitgate 1servers up indefinitely, but it has cost the studio hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past few years. Fortunately, the developers are exploring the possibility of supporting offline play and peer-to-peer matches inSplitgate 1, allowing fans to continue playing the game if these plans come to fruition.
In the meantime, 1047 Games plans to ship Chapter 3 and othernew updates forSplitgate 2with fixes and high-priority changes. AlthoughSplitgate 2will continue to be playable until it is unlaunched, many fans on Twitter are frustrated with 1047 Games, and some have even contemplated leaving the community and playing other games. Others are still hopeful aboutSplitgate 2and wish that the game would not be another letdown in the live-service space.
