'Splitgate' will go into maintenance mode as 1047 Games moves on to a new shooter

engadget.com:

Sci-fi arena shooter Splitgate exploded in popularity after it hit consoles last summer, two years after it debuted on PC. It racked up more than 10 million downloads in the space of a month thanks to its blend of Halo and Portal gameplay. The fact it's free-to-play didn't hurt. However, developer 1047 Games is now winding down feature development, effectively putting the game into maintenance mode. Although Splitgate will move out of beta with its next update, that will be the game's "last major iteration," the studio said.

Splitgate became much more successful than 1047 expected. The studio attempted to turn a "college dorm dream project into a AAA game" that could compete with the biggest titles around. "But this also meant that as we've brought on top-tier talent from across the industry, we've spent a lot of our time trying to rework old content and systems that were originally built by a handful of people," 1047 wrote in a statement. "We are, in a way, bailing water while also trying to keep everyone who bought a ticket to board our ship happy, while also trying to turn our boat into a rocket ship."

Important announcement from 1047 Games about the future of Splitgate: pic.twitter.com/5E0YG1DWQm

The studio is now focused on its next project. It will again be a free-to-play shooter with portals and it's set in the same universe. 1047 will build the upcoming game from scratch in Unreal Engine 5.

Meanwhile, Splitgate, which has now been downloaded more than 18 million times, will stay online for the foreseeable future. As a thank you to players, 1047 will add a free battle pass with an infinite number of levels and new skins and characters when the final season starts on September 15th. 1047 will continue to make fixes and