Watch On
1047 Games CEO Ian Proulx took the stage at Summer Game Fest today to reveal a surprise for Splitgate 2 that players have been accurately guessing for a week now: Yes, Splitgate 2 has a battle royale mode, and it’s out now.
Sporting a questionable “MAKE FPS GREAT AGAIN” hat, Proulx lamented the current state of online shooters before he introduced the trailer for Splitgate 2 battle royale.
“I grew up playing Halo, and I’m tired of playing the same Call of Duty every year. And I wish we could have Titanfall 3,” he said. “With Splitgate 2, we asked ourselves how we can take portals to the next level.
“What if you could portal to entirely different worlds? So we combined the action, movement, and gunplay of arena shooters with the scale and intensity of something much bigger. Splitgate Battle Royale launches free right now, and it’s fucking awesome.”
It’s true that Splitgate 2 nods to an older era of FPS with its mode variety, simplistic guns, and presence of Halo-like power weapons—though a battle royale mode is the sort of trendy addition to a modern FPS that seemingly contradicts Proulx’s longing for the social FPS bliss of the early ’00s. That and the hat had me wincing at the whole thing.
But I’m not wincing at Splitgate 2, which officially “launches” now after entering open beta a few weeks ago. It’s pretty good, but its round-based modes are decidedly less casual (and fun) than the classics it draws inspiration from. There’s an awkwardness to the way 1047 is pulling Splitgate 2 in every direction at once: It’s Halo, it’s Call of Duty, and now it’s also Apex Legends.
But of course, I gotta see what battle royale is like with portals.
