"SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded feels like a relic from a time many of us have mentally and socially moved on from, and for that reason I find it very difficult to recommend, matchmaking issues aside."
In theory, the original Splitgate had a very high chance of success on certain platforms, with Halo being limited to Xbox and PC, there was plenty of room for a Halo-esque shooter on PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, with any potential PC and Xbox players being icing on the proverbial cake.
And the original Splitgate did see some moderate success on all platforms, unfortunately instead of innovating on the original the developers decided to halt development in favour of a sequel, which would not arrive until AFTER Halo Infinite recovered from its launch issues, and Xbox had already committed to releasing more games on more platforms, including PlayStation and Nintendo.
And with that its chances of success all but vanished, however poor timing was not the only thing that doomed the franchise.
I would love to see the reasoning behind the string of choices that led us to where SPLITGATE is at the moment, including but not limited to.
1. Ending development on the original game in favour of a sequel after just 2 seasons.
2. Requiring players to purchase cosmetics again in Splitgate 2.
3. Marketing Splitgate 2 by attacking other developers/franchises.
4. The CEO coming on stage wearing an Elon Musk/Trump style “make FPS great again” cap, to the delight of right wing pundits, and disgust of almost everyone else.
5. Refusing to apologise for the above.
6. Deciding to “apologise” after all for the MAGA themed cap, in a way that many felt did not actually show remorse for anything other than splitting the already small SPLITGATE community, and did not address the actual reason people were offended beyond saying it was not intended as a political statement
7. Adding features no one asked for such as a battle royale mode and Overwatch style ultimate abilities.
8. Unlaunching Splitgate 2 only months after launch.
9. Laying off most of the studio. (this however could not be helped due to how badly Splitgate 2 performed)
10. Shutting off the servers for the original Splitgate (which people actually enjoyed).
11. Closing the original Splitgate 2, in favour of SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded.
12. Actively promoting toxic behaviour in the form of edgy emotes such as kiss my ass, and another which is universally recognised as being the gesture for “suck my dick”.
13. Actively promoting tea bagging (Teabag Confirmed Mode), a toxic and unsportsmanlike behaviour which has fallen out of fashion due to its sexual nature.
If I had been asked to destroy a company I could not have done a better job, and yet I do not think these blunders are a sign of malice, but rather desperation, negative press is better than no press at all, and while 1047 Games have inadvertently sabotaged their own franchise at every turn, the ironic thing is.. SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded is actually very fun to play, and if I had any confidence it would not be shuttered or relaunched anytime soon, I would happily spend time playing it.
With buttery smooth combat, interesting mechanics, a cool aesthetic, robust crossplay support, and surprisingly a non exploitative portrayal of female characters (considering how edgy it is in almost every other regard), it is without doubt one of the best arena shooters on the market, unfortunately it is also performing very poorly, with a daily peak on Steam of just 824 concurrent players.
While I would love to see SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded live to see another year, and the developers tone down the edginess, I cannot help but wonder if it will still be around a year from now, and honestly with how few people are actively playing the game and purchasing microtransactions, I would not blame 1047 if they pulled the plug entirely before summer’s end.
SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded is a free-to-play first person shooter game developed and published by 1047 Games, it released on 17 December 2025, and is available on PC, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded supports:
SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded offers the following matchmaking options:
The SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded in-game store sells:
SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded supports the following peripherals:
SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded is rated PEGI 12+ and contains:
SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded was a difficult game for me to cover, as while I find the way it is marketed and promoted distasteful, and its positive portrayal of toxic gamer culture problematic, I really enjoy the gameplay.
Unfortunately all this is academic at this point, with SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded struggling to attract/retain players on all platforms, and next gen Halo all but confirmed to be a multi platform release, there is very little space left in the genre for games such as SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded, which offer solid gameplay, but come a distant second to the market leader in all other regards.
Ultimately not a terrible game, but not one I would spend money on, especially when the developers have already shuttered the original Splitgate and original version of Splitgate 2.
We found SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded to be a mediocre game, meaning that while it has some redeeming qualities, it's held back by noticeable flaws that prevent it from being truly enjoyable.
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