Splitgate developer 1047 Games has announced Empulse, a "Titanfall-inspired movement shooter" set to launch in early access later this year.
In an interview with Polygon, 1047 boss Ian Proulx stated that while the team will continue supporting Splitgate—the sequel, Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, just dropped in December 2025—Empulse is now the studio's "main priority."
"I still do believe in [Splitgate: Arena Reloaded]," Proulx said. "I really do. I think it's a great game. I think it needs sort of a… I mean, I don't know what it needs, to be honest."
"We looked very closely at some of our favorite and the best movement shooters out there, like Titanfall 2, Black Ops 3, some of the movement CODs. But we also looked at non-shooting games," Proulx explained. "Do you remember SSX Tricky? One of the things we took inspiration from there was that feeling of, like, you're in that flow state. You're wall running, you're grappling, you're sliding, and then you're bouncing off these jumps. We had this vision of, what if instead of it just being your typical jump pad or man cannon, it was actually more like a snowboard jump?"
That doesn't mean the studio has abandoned its Portal-inspired roots. Empulse reportedly "riffs on Portal 2’s paint mechanic." Players will use P.A.I.N.T. Bombs (Plasma Activated Infusion of NanoTech) that, like Portal's gels, provide speed or jump boosts. These can be chained to create a highly mobile shooter where players are always moving, resulting in a "really freaking fun" experience.
"We have a lot of Titanfall fans in the company. We've seen it even in our community," Proulx said. "A lot of people have asked for wall-running over the years, actually. And so that was one of the things we actually prototyped in early 2025, and we ended up not putting it into the game because we're like, ‘This just doesn't really work and none of the maps were built for this. This is about portals.'"
You may remember the launch and "unlaunch" of Splitgate 2 last year. It released in June to middling reviews, controversy, and a rapid player drop-off as criticism mounted. In response, 1047 "unlaunched" Splitgate 2 in July, temporarily winding down support while working on a new version with "big, sweeping changes." It later relaunched as a free-to-play title on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.
"If I look at live-service games that haven't done well, there's a million reasons, right? It's such a difficult industry," Proulx added. "I think one of the reasons that certain games haven't done well is chasing trends, instead of trying to provide something players are asking for.
"And honestly, we're partially guilty of that. I think we had our own unique take on things, but I think this time around it's: let's just make this type of game. It doesn't have to be the next Fortnite, it doesn't have to be the next Call of Duty. We think this is a game that players are asking for."
