Splitgate

Last updated
Splitgate
Splitgate cover.jpg
Developer(s) 1047 Games
Publisher(s) 1047 Games
Engine Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
ReleaseEarly access
On May 24, 2019 (PC)
On July 27, 2021 (consoles)
Indefinite beta
On August 25, 2021
Official release
On September 15, 2022
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Multiplayer

Splitgate (known during development under the working title Splitgate: Arena Warfare) is a free-to-play multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed and published by 1047 Games. It was released in early access on May 24, 2019, for Linux and Microsoft Windows on Steam, and on Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on July 27, 2021. A PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S version came in 2022. On August 25, 2021, the developers announced that the game would stay in beta indefinitely and at the same time released Season 0. The game revolves around Halo -inspired sci-fi combat in battle arenas where players can create wormhole portals between two points on the map that have been compared to those of the Portal series, and fire weapons or travel through those portals.

Contents

Development

The game was developed by Nevada-based 1047 Games. Its founders, Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian started working on the game as a school project while they were attending Stanford University studying computer science. Proulx was inspired by Portal and Portal 2 , and believed that its mechanic could translate well into other video game genres. They worked on the game without funding for six months, and then released a demo for user testing, which became unexpectedly popular as the game drew 600,000 downloads in its first month of release. The game design philosophy was described to be similar to that of Fortnite and Rocket League , in which the game is "easy to learn" but "difficult to master". [1]

The game was released as a free-to-play title on Steam on May 24, 2019. 1047 Games continued to work on the game post-release and had raised a total of $10 million for the project by May 2021 from investors. [2] In June 2021, the company announced that the game would be coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S with cross-platform play supported. [3]

While Splitgate struggled to maintain a viable player base after its initial early access launch in 2019, the game saw a significant surge of players when the game's beta launched in early July 2021, causing it to surpass 600,000 downloads in the first week. [4] [5] Its sudden popularity was unexpected by the developers and led to the game going offline several times to fix server issues. [4] This led to the postponement of its departure from early access while the developers attempted to increase server capacity to handle well over 100,000 concurrent players. [6] Despite attempts at increasing server capacity, a queue system was implemented to limit the number of players logging onto the game. Developers posted updates on the server's status on their Twitter accounts until the system was removed in August 2021.

In September 2022, the developers announced that they had ceased feature development on Splitgate to focus on a sequel created using Unreal Engine 5. [7] [8] The sequel, entitled Splitgate 2 , was revealed on July 18, 2024 and is slated for a 2025 release. [9]

Seasons

SeasonTitlePeriodDescription
0Season ZeroAugust 25, 2021 – January 27, 2022The first season of Splitgate included a new map called "Karman Station", a new game mode called "Contamination", a new battle pass that builds off of the beta battle pass, and balance changes.
1Season OneJanuary 27, 2022-presentThe second season of Splitgate added a highly anticipated map creator beta, and brought new fidelity changes to the map Foregone Destruction as well as a new simulation map called Hotel. It also included the new game modes "Evolution" and "One Flag Capture the Flag", a new battle pass with skins and other in-game rewards, and some graphical overhauls to all maps. [10]

Reception

Splitgate received an aggregate score of 68/100 on Metacritic. [14] Samuel Horti of IGN said that while the game is an "average arena FPS", the "clever twist" of being able to place portals turns it into a "smart, tactical team-based shooter". However, he criticized the game's "bland" maps and its low player count, which made it difficult to create balanced matches. [15] Alex Santa Maria of Game Revolution called the gameplay "impressively solid" but saying it needed "a bit more visual flair" and comparing the game's armor designs to "forgotten also-rans like Section 8 ". [12] Aiman Maulana of the New Straits Times rated the game 7/10, calling the gameplay variety "decent", but saying it needed more content and maps. [16]

Polygon included Splitgate under their list of what they considered to be the "best games of 2021." [17]

Related Research Articles

<i>Halo 2</i> 2004 video game

Halo 2 is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. Halo 2 is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved. The game features new weapons, enemies, and vehicles, another player character, and shipped with online multiplayer via Microsoft's Xbox Live service. In Halo 2's story mode, the player assumes the roles of the human Master Chief and alien Arbiter in a 26th-century conflict between the United Nations Space Command, the genocidal Covenant, and later, the parasitic Flood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Online game</span> Video game played over the Internet

An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and mobile devices, and span many genres, including first-person shooters, strategy games, and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG). In 2019, revenue in the online games segment reached $16.9 billion, with $4.2 billion generated by China and $3.5 billion in the United States. Since the 2010s, a common trend among online games has been to operate them as games as a service, using monetization schemes such as loot boxes and battle passes as purchasable items atop freely-offered games. Unlike purchased retail games, online games have the problem of not being permanently playable, as they require special servers in order to function.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital Extremes</span> Canadian video game developer

Digital Extremes Ltd. is a Canadian video game developer founded in 1993 by James Schmalz. They are best known for creating Warframe, a free-to-play cooperative online action game, and co-creating Epic Games' Unreal series of games. Digital Extremes is headquartered in London, Ontario. In 2014, 61% of the company was sold to Chinese holding company Multi Dynamic, now Leyou, for $73 million. In May 2016 Leyou exercised a call option and increased their stake to 97% of Digital Extremes for a total consideration of $138.2 million US. In December 2020, Tencent bought Leyou for 1.3 billion dollars, which included the majority stake in Digital Extremes that Leyou held.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avalanche Studios Group</span> Swedish video game developer and publisher

Avalanche Studios Group is a Swedish video game developer and publisher based in Stockholm. It is a parent company that includes Avalanche Studios, Expansive Worlds, and Systemic Reaction. Founded by Linus Blomberg and Christofer Sundberg in March 2003, Avalanche Studios focuses on developing open world projects and bases them on their proprietary Apex game engine. The company is best known for developing the Just Cause game series.

Call of Duty is a military first-person shooter video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-off and handheld games were made by other developers. The most recent, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, was released on October 25, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frostbite (game engine)</span> Game engine developed by DICE

Frostbite is a game engine developed by DICE, designed for cross-platform use on Microsoft Windows, seventh generation game consoles PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, eighth generation game consoles PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch and ninth generation game consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, in addition to usage in the now defunct cloud streaming service Google Stadia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IW (game engine)</span> Game engine developed by Infinity Ward

The IW engine is a game engine created and developed by Infinity Ward for the Call of Duty series. The engine was originally based on id Tech 3. Aside from Infinity Ward, the engine is also used by other Activision studios working on the series, including primary lead developers Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games, and support studios like Beenox, High Moon Studios, and Raven Software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hi-Rez Studios</span> American video game company

Hi-Rez Studios is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was established in 2005 by Erez Goren and Todd Harris. Hi-Rez Studios' games include the squad-based shooter Global Agenda, the critically acclaimed Tribes: Ascend, the third-person MOBA Smite, the hero shooter Paladins, and the third-person shooter Rogue Company. In 2012, Hi-Rez Studios was recognized as a Top 30 Video-Game Developer by Game Developer Magazine and Gamasutra. Hi-Rez are the current owners of the Metaltech license, including Battledrome, Earthsiege, Starsiege, the CyberStorm series, and the Tribes series. With the exception of Battledrome and CyberStorm, the games were released as freeware by Hi-Rez on October 30, 2015.

<i>Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare</i> 2014 third-person class-based shooter video game

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is a 2014 multiplayer third-person shooter and tower defense video game developed by PopCap Games and published by Electronic Arts. The third game in the Plants vs. Zombies franchise, the basic premise revolves around plants defending humankind from a zombie invasion. In the game, players assume control of either the Plants or the Zombies, as they fight in various cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes. Upon completing matches and finishing objectives, players earn coins to acquire stickers that unlock customization items and character variants.

<i>Titanfall</i> (video game) 2014 multiplayer first-person shooter video game

Titanfall is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for Windows and Xbox One on March 11, 2014; an Xbox 360 version ported by Bluepoint Games was released April 8, 2014. The game was anticipated as the debut title from developers formerly behind the Call of Duty franchise.

<i>Sea of Thieves</i> 2018 video game

Sea of Thieves is a 2018 action-adventure game developed by Rare and published by Xbox Game Studios. The player assumes the role of a pirate who completes voyages from different trading companies. The multiplayer game sees players explore an open world via a pirate ship from a first-person perspective. Groups of players encounter each other consistently during their pilgrimages, sometimes forming alliances, and sometimes going head-to-head.

<i>Gigantic</i> (video game) 2017 free-to-play strategic hero shooter video game

Gigantic is a third-person shooter video game developed by the independent game studio Motiga and published by Perfect World Entertainment. The game focused on team-based action combat with heroes battling alongside a massive guardian. Players must protect their guardian along with their team and attempt to destroy the opposing team and their guardian.

<i>Z1 Battle Royale</i> 2018 video game

Z1 Battle Royale is a battle royale game developed and published by Daybreak Game Company. The game's development began after the original H1Z1 was spun off into two separate projects in early 2016: H1Z1: Just Survive and H1Z1: King of the Kill. The games were further split as separate projects in October 2017, with Just Survive dropping the H1Z1 name, and King of the Kill becoming simply H1Z1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross-platform play</span> Ability of players using different video game systems to play with each other simultaneously

In video games with online gaming functionality, also called cross-compatible play, cross-platform play, crossplay, or cross-play describes the ability of players using different video game hardware to play with each other simultaneously. It is commonly applied to the ability for players using a game on a specific video game console to play alongside a player on a different hardware platform such as another console or a computer. A related concept is cross-save, where the player's progress in a game is stored in separate servers, and can be continued in the game but on a different hardware platform.

Mordhau is a multiplayer medieval hack and slash fighting game developed by the independent Slovenian studio Triternion, with a prominent aspect of skill-based competitive play and customization. It features a combat system emphasizing hand-to-hand combat, loosely based on historical techniques such as feints, redirection, and alternative use of weapons. Other features include ranged weapons, siege engines and mounted combat. The game was released on 29 April 2019 for Windows via Steam. Versions for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S were released on 12 July 2023.

<i>Strange Brigade</i> 2018 video game

Strange Brigade is a cooperative third-person shooter video game developed and published by Rebellion Developments. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on August 28, 2018, on August 1, 2020 for Stadia, and on June 15, 2021 for Nintendo Switch. In the game, the player fights against different mythological enemies and solves puzzles.

<i>Hollow Knight: Silksong</i> Upcoming video game by Team Cherry

Hollow Knight: Silksong is a Metroidvania video game in development by Australian independent developer Team Cherry. The sequel to Hollow Knight, it is being developed for Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

References

  1. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (May 24, 2021). "1047 Games raises $6.5M to develop free-to-play shooter Splitgate". VentureBeat . Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  2. ↑ Dealessandri, Marie (May 25, 2021). "1047 Games raises $6.5 million". Gameindustry.biz. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  3. ↑ T.M. Kim, Matt (June 12, 2021). "Portal Shooter Splitgate Announced for Xbox, PlayStation With Cross-Play - IGN Expo". IGN . Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  4. 1 2 Prescott, Shaun (2021-07-26). "Splitgate's final release is delayed while studio revamps server infrastructure". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  5. ↑ Grubb, Jeff (2021-07-20). "Portal-style shooter Splitgate surpasses 600,000 downloads on console in first week". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  6. ↑ Clayton, Natalie (2021-08-03). "Splitgate dev 'can't just buy more servers' to deal with exploding player numbers". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  7. ↑ Morgan Park (2022-09-02). "Splitgate dev is leaving 'Halo with portals' behind to make its next shooter". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  8. ↑ Yang, George (2022-09-02). "Splitgate Devs End Development on Popular Shooter to Focus on Unreal Engine 5 Sequel". IGN. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  9. ↑ Valentine, Rebekah (July 18, 2024). "Splitgate 2 Unveiled for a 2025 PC and Console Launch". IGN. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Beta Season 1 Patch Notes January 27th, 2022". splitgate.com. January 27, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Splitgate Arena Warfare for PC Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  12. 1 2 "Splitgate: Arena Warfare Review | Assault on Aperture Science". GameRevolution. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  13. ↑ Horti, Samuel (7 June 2019). "Splitgate Arena Warfare Review". IGN . Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  14. ↑ "Splitgate: Arena Warfare". Metacritic. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  15. ↑ Horti, Samuel (June 8, 2019). "Splitgate: Arena Warfare Review - IGN" . Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  16. ↑ Maulana, Aiman (17 Jun 2019). "Fast-paced multiplayer shooter game" . Retrieved 2019-10-21– via PressReader.
  17. ↑ Polygon Staff (19 Apr 2021). "The best games of 2021 (so far)". www.polygon.com. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.