Splitgate's early access launch in 2019 took the arena shooter scene by storm. Despite joining into a saturated genre, the free-to-play online multiplayer shooter created a niche for itself by offering an experience unlike any other. Its implementation of a portal mechanic, not unlike Valve's Portal games, added a tactical element to the arena shooter allowing it to stand apart. However, in part due to the limitations of indie development, Splitgate's audience faltered due to polish and content rollout. As a natural conclusion, developer 1047 Games has now confirmed that Splitgate's feature development is ending.
The announcement was made by 1047 in a lengthy statement delivered over social media and on Splitgate's official website. It starts by thanking all of Splitgate's community and affirming that its active playerbase helped make Splitgate a success that few indie games reach. That success, says 1047, has allowed the developer to transform itself into a studio that could "stand toe-to-toe with shooters from the biggest publishers in the industry." It also, unfortunately, is a key part of why 1047 is stepping forward from Splitgate.
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1047 explains that it's spent a significant amount of time "bailing water while trying to keep everyone who bought a ticket to board our ship happy." In more specific language, it says further development of Splitgate required significant reworks of old content and systems originally made when the studio was significantly smaller. All this was happening while 1047 continued to work on transforming its "boat into a rocket ship." 1047 is growing bigger and more capable, and Splitgate's continued development appears to be holding that progress back.
Going forward, 1047 Games says that in order to "build the game fans deserve," Splitgate feature development is ending. 1047 will instead go "all-in" on the development of a new game described as delivering "revolutionary, not evolutionary" changes to the Splitgate experience.
Confirmed details regarding the new game include that it's from the Splitgate universe, that it's a shooter, that it features portals, that it will be free-to-play, and further that it's being built on Unreal Engine 5. Clearly, 1047 has lofty ambitions for its new project, but it's not abandoning the ideas and concepts that Splitgate players love, either. The new game will be made for Splitgate fans, first and foremost.
As for what that means for Splitgate players in the near future, the game isn't going anywhere. Splitgate will continue to be available to play and players will still be able to earn items and progress. 1047 will even launch a new battle pass on September 15. Updates in the future, however, will be limited to small patches and fixes. Otherwise, 1047 asks Splitgate players to remain patient until the new game is ready to be unveiled.
Splitgate is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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