Splitgate 2 Dropped to Beta Status Amid 1047 Games Layoffs

Splitgate 2, the sequel to the surprising free-to-play success from 2019, was launched in June, much to the surprise of the gaming community. Unfortunately, that launch lasted a few weeks in total, as the game has now been returned to beta status. It’s the latest issue in a long timeline for this game and its development studio.

1047 Games, the hit studio behind the two Splitgate games (and only that for now), is reducing its payroll and shutting down the servers for the original Splitgate game this week to cut costs, though they are exploring offline options for those who still want to play the game. In the statement shared by the studio, no specific number of affected employees was shared.

As for Splitgate 2, that’s only part of the issue. The statement from 1047 Games which was penned in part by co-founder Ian Proulx said the creators were well aware of the backlash and poor reception that the title received upon its launch. He admitted that they “missed the mark,” so returning to beta status is a way for them to keep working on it.

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Bugs, a lack of ranked mode at launch, and costly cosmetics drew the ire of gamers, and their criticism has been heard. Unfortunately, it means the game has been temporarily taken down.

“We’ve heard your feedback, and we agree with you: we launched too early,” a statement provided by the developers reads. “We had ambitious goals with Splitgate 2, and in our excitement to share it with you, we bit off more than we could chew … So, we’re going back to beta.”

1047 Games made the controversial decision to keep some modes that would be present in the game secret from gamers so as to surprise them on launch. A Battle Royale mode was one of them. That backfired, and whenever the game relaunches, it will have experienced plenty of feedback and collective work on the part of the developers and the community to better the game.

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Proulx even admitted to reading a massive, infamous Reddit thread filled with complaints about the game. That gives them a decent sense of what they need to do to fix the game and help it align more with what gamers actually want.

He drew criticism for wearing a “Make FPS Great Again” hat, but Proulx refused to blame the game’s poor reception on that. The CEO said it wouldn’t be a talking point if the game were in better shape.

Layoffs are, unfortunately, becoming incredibly common in the video game industry. Big studios and small studios alike can’t seem to avoid having to cut costs and downsize, with plenty being shut down entirely so large-scale publishers can save a bit of money.

The team has not yet nailed down a relaunch date, though they are aiming for early 2026. In the meantime, Splitgate 2 isn’t necessarily going away. 1047 is still going to run the planned third season and some special events, just as part of the beta status. According to Proulx, there have been darker days for the original game, so he’s confident that things will go well over the next few months.

[H/T Polygon]