Splitgate 2‘s “unlaunching” will be undone in December. After a torrent of bad feedback from players, the troubled multiplayer first-person shooter was pulled from sale in July, weeks after its June 6 launch, and returned to a beta-testing state. That beta will end on Dec. 4 ahead of a relaunch “later in December,” developer 1047 Games said.
The relaunch is a little ahead of schedule; 1047 Games originally envisaged that Splitgate 2 would reemerge in early 2026. But, in a post on Reddit, CEO Ian Proulx sounded confident of the improvements the studio has made. “We just want to put out a great game (which I firmly believe we now have) and then grow it over time,” Proulx said. “The thing that has me most optimistic is the results from the playtests.”
Reacting to surprise and skepticism from players, Proulx denied that 1047 Games was under any pressure from investors to bring the relaunch forward. “We think it’s a good window because more players play games in general during the holidays,” he said.
Proulx also stressed that 1047 Games would not initiate a marketing blitz to coincide with the relaunch, since many players’ criticisms of the original launch had centered on how heavily the studio pushed a game they felt wasn’t ready. “The strategy is intentionally different this time,” he said. “We aren’t trying to build massive hype going into relaunch. […] Splitgate 1‘s relaunch had only a few hundred CCU on day 1 and grew very organically because it was fun. We have some marketing stuff lined up of course but the goal is to grow over time, not aim for a massive splash on day 1.”
Splitgate 2 came under fire at launch for its bugs, lack of ranked play, expensive cosmetics, and more. Layoffs followed at the studio as servers were shut down. The so-called “unlaunching” also came in the wake of Proulx’s controversial appearance at Summer Game Fest wearing a “Make FPS Great Again” hat. The notoriety of the stunt didn’t help the studio’s cause. “No I will not be at Game Awards lol,” Proulx replied to players asking if he would risk taking to Geoff Keighley’s stage once again at The Game Awards on Dec. 11 to promote the relaunch.
Proulx certainly seems keen to stress his newfound humility. “I appreciate you all continuing to pay attention and totally understand those who are skeptical of this working,” he wrote. “I hope it works and I genuinely think it will, but of course I could be wrong. Fingers crossed regardless, and we hope you will give it a try on relaunch. A lot of people have worked really hard to make this the best game possible for our community. We appreciate you guys more than you maybe realize.”
