The woes of Splitgate developer 1047 Games continue as the studio has been hit by another round of layoffs. According to Game Developer, multiple now-former employees of 1047 Games have confirmed that they have been laid off through posts on LinkedIn, with former associate art director Jonathan Kuo revealing that this is the third wave of layoffs so far.
“As of the end of this week, it will be my last day at 1047 Games due to the third wave of studio layoffs. Throughout the years in this industry, my main goal has always been to work with inspiring artists and art directors, which was a significant reason why I joined. Unfortunately, that didn’t last as long as I hoped, but I’m grateful for the experience and the wonderful people I had the chance to work with,” wrote Kuo.
The layoffs have also included the studio’s community specialist, Jesse Griefenberg, and its director of QA, Igor Krinitskiy. The studio hasn’t revealed any details about the exact number of employees affected.
1047 Games went through a round of layoffs just last year, with studio boss Ian Proulx saying that the team wanted to revamp Splitgate 2, which he said had “ambitious goals” with its initial release, acknowledging that it came out “too early”.
“We’re still perfecting the Splitgate 2 gameplay experience in response to community feedback, and we are redirecting resources to build the best game for our players. We are sad to see our teammates go, and we are actively working to help them secure new opportunities,” said the studio in a statement last year.
The latest round of layoffs comes just a couple of months after 1047 Games unveiled its next project: a 6v6 movement-based shooter dubbed EMPULSE. It was released last month across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
While it shares quite a bit in common with the critically-acclaimed gameplay of Titanfall 2, in our Early Access review, we noted that these similarities tend to feel like gimmicks since EMPULSE can’t really achieve the highs provided by Respawn’s shooter. However, we also acknowledged that it’s an Early Access game that can continue to improve over time, and that 1047 Games has plenty of ways to make it better.
In the meantime, 1047 Games is also continuing its work on supporting Splitgate: Arena Reloaded – essentially a relaunch of Splitgate 2. The title seemingly hasn’t done well, with Steam player numbers being quite low, even on launch. In response to questions about low player numbers, however, the studio said that “Steam Charts don’t measure fun.”
“[Steam Charts] show one number, on one platform, at one given moment. They don’t show the full picture or what it feels like to actually play, and they definitely don’t capture the community that’s actively helping shape what Arena Reloaded is becoming (including upcoming content like Arena Royale).”
For now, 1047 Games seems to be quite committed to supporting Splitgate: Arena Reloaded with continued development, and has made no official announcement about whether the release of EMPULSE means updates for the shooter will be slowing down anytime soon. For more details, take a look at our review of the original release of Splitgate 2.
