Hopes were high for Splitgate 2, as the game's use of portal mechanics and solid shooting was exciting to many. Unfortunately, the sequel bit off more than it could chew, with its devs saying this title was going to “make FPS games great again,” while also falling for the same tropes that have doomed similar titles. It has a battle royale and expensive microtransactions, neither of which are original concepts.
That doesn’t seem to be the only issue surrounding this shooter, as a report from Streamforge (via LinkedIn) is now claiming 1047 Games spent over $400,000 on streamers to support the title. Most of these streamers were American males and were paid a “modest budget” to support the game. Unfortunately, that hasn’t helped, as this shooter has already lost a majority of its audience.
Nick Lombardi, the co-founder of Streamforge, had this to say about Splitgate 2’s failure:
"Despite the $408k influencer investment and 27.4 million total views, Splitgate 2’s launch was catastrophic. The game lost over 96% of its Steam player base within a month, dropping from 25,785 concurrent players at launch to under 1,000 by early July."
With the online shooter space dominated by titles like Marvel Rivals and Apex Legends, the 1047 Games title was always going to struggle. However, the publicity stunts done to try and make this game a success did more harm than good, especially when the devs claimed this title would make FPS titles great again. It’s pretty embarrassing in hindsight, and the future doesn’t look too good for this shooter.
Only time will tell if Splitgate 2 will be able to rebuild itself, especially since it's the sequel to a beloved shooter. Having only 1,000 or so players isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, and the devs will have to work extra hard to regain the fans they lost. Never say never, but it’s not looking good for this game.
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