Splitgate 2 is going back into beta. The arena shooter that essentially combines Halo-like arena shooter gameplay with portals, has announced that the game is going back to work on rebuilding the game. The shooter has essentially been mired in controversy since the moment it launched. While players have voiced their disappointment in the game, the appearance of 1047 Games CEO Ian Proulx at Summer Game Fest didn’t help anything when he donned a “Make FPS Great Again” hat and decried shooters like Call of Duty for being generic these days, only to reveal a battle royale mode for Splitgate 2 with Imagine Dragons music playing.
While Splitgate 2 “fully launched” on June 6, the team at 1047 Games says that it launched too early and will be “heads down” until next year while they focus on rebuilding key parts of the game including progression, monetization, classic modes, and adding more portals to maps. During this time, there will be playtests and surveys to hear from players what they want from the game.
Splitgate 2 returning to beta isn’t the only news revealed in the post linked above. Along with this news, 1047 Games is entirely taking the original Splitgate offline in a month. The team is looking at supporting offline or peer-to-peer matches, but the current state of the game will be unplayable without some legwork by players. Additionally, an unknown number of workers at 1047 Games will be laid off.
What Does Splitgate 2 Returning to Beta Mean for the Game?
IGN’s Rebekah Valentine spoke with Ian Proulx recently, and reports that the changes coming to Splitgate 2 will almost entirely be decided by the community. “If the community wants X, and that’s what they want, it doesn’t really matter what I want, but even what I want, I mean, I think a lot of what the community is asking for are things that I agree with.”
While Splitgate 2 is returning to an unofficial launch state, that doesn’t mean that the game is going offline like MultiVersus did. You will still be able to play the game in its current state and the team will still deliver their Season 3 content and bug fixes.
Time will tell if Splitgate 2 can ever get back into the good graces of its community. That could be a pretty difficult thing to pull off. While the game will remain playable, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a massive content drought following the release of Season 3. If we are sitting in a similar position this time next year, with not a lot coming out for the game, it could be very bad news for the future of the game and studio.
