The sequel to the breakout FPS of 2021 is stepping out of the shadows.
In a time where promising new multiplayer shooters regularly try and fail to escape the shadow of Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Apex Legends, the story of Splitgate and its creators at 1047 Games defies all logic. There were several moments when the « Halo with portals » arena shooter almost sank after failing to find a steady audience with its Steam launch in 2019.
It was a minor miracle when Splitgate reemerged with console ports in 2021 and became the hottest free-to-play game of that summer, exploding to a peak of 200,000 concurrent players and briefly making a traditional arena shooter one of the most-played games in the world.
But what’s most surprising to me is what happened after the team of around 20 at 1047 Games, who’d spent months putting out fires caused by Splitgate’s unexpected popularity, couldn’t keep up with the content demands of its players. The game’s five minutes of fame had expired, player numbers were way down, but 1047 didn’t plug away at updates in hopes of luring people back or call it quits. Instead, it got the opportunity to do what so few studios in the live service biz ever get to do: Put the old Splitgate on a shelf, and start making a sequel.Fresh start
« We felt like we had a really good feel of what’s missing from [Splitgate 1]. And I think we only had two things that we were actually happy with », Ian Proulx, 1047 Games CEO and creative director, told me in the downstairs office of his Lake Tahoe waterfront home in Nevada. « We thought we had great gunplay and we really like the portal mechanic. Everything else about the game, we just did sort of good enough. »
This time six years ago, Proulx and his co-founder Nicholas Bagamian were grinding away at Splitgate from Proulx’s parents’ house with a lean, remote crew of 15. In 2024, 1047 is still remote, but has steadily grown to over 160. That number took me by surprise—in the year and a half since 1047 went behind the curtain to start on Splitgate 2, the small studio with a student game that punched above its weight has quietly become a landing pad for veteran FPS talent from Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer, Ubisoft, 343 Industries, and more.
The realization brought 1047’s decision to leave its first game behind into focus: Splitgate was successful, but it was also cobbled together with code Proulx wrote when he was still a student, maps he designed himself that he now considers « really bad », and an « all over the place » art style that represented the best they could do at the time. Splitgate 2 would be a fresh start on an upgraded Unreal Engine 5, designed from the ground up with « triple-A everything, triple-A graphics, art, style, triple-A sound, triple-A animation, VFX, everything », as Proulx described to me with genuine excitement.Class acts
The first few months of development were spent brainstorming exactly what kind of shooter Splitgate 2 would be. Proulx wanted the sequel to require more teamwork, have « world class » seasonal updates, more variety, and a lower the barrier to entry while « maintaining a high skill ceiling. »
« What if Splitgate 2 were a hero shooter? What would it look like if it were a CoD clone? Would it look like if it were class-based? What would it look like if we just stuck to a Halo-style arena shooter? »
The creative director landed on an intriguing combination of them all: Splitgate 2 has three classes with unique pools of weapons and gear that can be customized, plus Halo-style power weapons that spawn on maps. Each of these factions—Aeros, Sabrask, and Meridian—were designed to accommodate three distinct playstyles. Aeros is a movement-focused faction with a speed boost ability that’s all about slick portaling and constant aggression.
« Aeros is really targeting your Splitgate 1 players, the type of people who love building in Fortnite », Proulx said. « It’s the mechanically gifted individuals who want to put the team on their back, play fast, play aggressive, and portal like a madman. »
Sabrask is a defensive faction with a barrier wall ability, best for holding down capture points or covering your own back against sneaky portals.
« It’s targeting your Call of Duty or Halo type player.
