Splitgate 2 Dev 1047 Games Lays Off Staff Amid Rocky Launch

1047 Games, developer of Splitgate 2, has confirmed staff reductions while revealing its co-founders are forfeiting salaries during this transitional period.

The free-to-play portal shooter launched amid controversy after creative director Ian Proulx wore a "Make FPS Great Again" hat during Summer Game Fest. His remarks criticizing Call of Duty were widely perceived as misjudged promotional tactics.

Splitgate 2 debuted featuring a battle royale mode and drew backlash for its $145 premium bundle. Steam analytics show its peak concurrent players at 25,785 - significantly lower than the original Splitgate's 67,724 record. Current user reviews maintain a "mixed" rating.

While Steam represents only part of its player base (the game also launched on consoles), with 1047 reporting over 2.5 million total players, results have fallen short of expectations. Proulx later acknowledged surprise at the negative reception, stating they hadn't anticipated such controversy.

The studio's LinkedIn statement confirmed "a small group" of layoffs while announcing founders Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian would work without pay during development adjustments. Several key team members have since announced departures on social media.

Current Steam charts show Splitgate 2 with 10,059 peak concurrent players recently, dipping to 4,437 during reporting. IGN's 7/10 review described it as "a decent successor that expands on but doesn't surpass the original."