SplitGate 2 is returning next month after being ‘unlaunched’ last July

Back in 2022, the team at 1047 Games announced that they would be shutting down their popular Halo-like arena shooter SplitGate in order to focus work on a dedicated sequel. After years of waiting, SplitGate 2 was finally unveiled and released earlier this year in June – to a mixed reception. This ultimately led the team to taking down the game in order to focus on improvements, with plans to return in 2026. Though slightly earlier than expected, the team have now confirmed that SplitGate 2 is officially coming back before the end of the year.

Taking to their blog to discuss SplitGate 2’s final playtest, the team at 1047 Games confirmed that the arena shooter is set to make an official return next month, writing: “Since launching the beta in May, this game has majorly transformed. We started with factions and abilities, and we've rebuilt the entire foundation around what makes Splitgate special: portals, movement, and pure gunplay.”

Discussing the changes made in greater detail, the team continued, “We removed factions entirely and reimagined abilities as power-ups. We brought back classic roundless modes like King of the Hill, Domination, and Team Deathmatch. We added Classic Arena, an even-starts mode that captures the spirit of original Splitgate. We've introduced new maps, new weapons, reworked the menus, and refined systems constantly based on your feedback.”

That’s not all however, with 1047 noting: “we've also added portal overloading and EMPs, fundamentally changing how map control works. We've streamlined equipment to improve combat clarity. We've tuned our controller feel. We've fixed critical bugs and made countless optimizations.”

While SplitGate 1 succeeded thanks to its relatively basic yet solid mechanics, the sequel suffered from 1047 Games trying to do too much, from the aforementioned faction abilities to general pacing – and of course the addition of an unwanted Battle Royale mode (alongside ridiculously overpriced cosmetics).

Much of the franchise’s goodwill was burned with the launch of SplitGate 2, and so it will be interesting to see whether this relaunch will come with much fanfare. We won’t have to wait long to find out.

KitGuru says: What did you think of SplitGate 2? How did it compare to the original? Why do you think the sequel failed? Let us know down below.

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