I watched the chat thread slow to a stop while Ian Proulx smiled onstage. The applause felt like a last gasp for two games that never found their audience. Now 1047 Games has announced active development on Splitgate: Arena Reloaded and Empulse is over.
At Summer Game Fest, a hat made headlines — what the moment revealed about the studio
I remember Ian Proulx on that stage, wearing a “Make FPS Great Again” hat. It was bold, media-friendly, and it briefly put Splitgate back in conversation. The game and its sibling Empulse could not convert that attention into sustainable player numbers, and 1047’s announcement framed the reality plainly: neither game is generating enough revenue to justify dedicated servers.
Why did Splitgate shut down?
You’ve seen the headlines: Splitgate 2 stumbled at launch, returned as Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, and still struggled to hold more than a few hundred to a thousand daily players on Steam Charts. The studio said they continued covering server and live-service costs longer than most would, but growth stalled and the math stopped working. The relaunch fizzled like a carnival ride that lost its electricity.
On Steam and in servers — the plain numbers you can check yourself
Open Steam Charts and you’ll see the cold truth: daily peaks under 1,000 for a multiplayer shooter are unsustainable if you’re running dedicated servers and live ops. I’ve watched studios bleed money on hosting, anti-cheat, QA, and community moderation while hoping a seasonal event or creator clip boosts retention. For 1047, those defenses didn’t hold; they’ve moved support to peer-to-peer so players can still play without the studio’s live-team overhead.
Will Empulse servers stay online?
The answer is mixed. 1047 says neither title will get new updates, but peer-to-peer options will keep both games playable for those who want them. That preserves the core experience for small communities — essentially handing control back to players rather than paying for persistent, studio-run services.
In the studio’s statement — clear language about what they learned and what comes next
1047’s co-founders wrote that after a decade of focusing on live-service shooters, their focus is changing. They were candid about costs and community love: “We have loved working on these games, playing them, and building them with this community.” They also said what they build next may surprise people.
I respect that honesty. You don’t get many developers who publicly admit the numbers aren’t there and fold live development before burning through every resource. The community reacted with disappointment, yes, but also with a pragmatic acceptance — a reminder that passion alone doesn’t pay for match servers or anti-cheat systems.
On players and preservation — a quick, practical look at what you can do
If you play either game, here are three steps I suggest: back up configs or custom playlists, keep tabs on community-run servers or Discords, and archive clips or guides that capture the unique mechanics. The community forums and creators who kept these games alive are the most likely people to keep them playable after official support drops.
The community board felt like a paper map torn in the rain — messy, but still readable if you patch it together.
What is 1047 Games doing next?
The short version: they’re shifting away from their previous live-service formula. They promise lessons learned will shape the next project, and that it may not resemble multiplayer, portal-shooting, mech-driving titles. If you follow industry moves on platforms like Steam and social channels such as X (formerly Twitter) and the Summer Game Fest circuit, you’ll probably spot hints early.
I’ll be watching 1047’s next steps closely because their choices matter: they’re a bellwether for small studios trying to survive the live-service treadmill. You should watch too — this could be the beginning of a broader reshaping of how teams fund and ship multiplayer games.
Do you think studios should keep chasing live-service hits, or is it time for a different model?