To everyone, it came as a shock but in a shocking twist, the company that developed the popular first-person shooter video game Splitgate 2, 1047 Games, has put out a statement laying off a few of their hard-working workers unexpectedly.
The studio made the sad news publicly on their official social media with a sweet tribute to the departed. The post was used to express the difficulty of this decision and sadness, they felt at being forced to say goodbye to some of their team.
It also announced that due to downturns in the business, the company has had to lay off some minor percentage of its treasured employees at the 1047 Games. It was a hard choice and not an easy choice. We are all hoping the victims and their families will overcome this period.”
The studio scrappily launched 1047 Games, but the co-founders have stopped paying themselves so that it can restructure and revise its offerings
📰 Summary
The developer of Splitgate 2, 1047 Games, has confirmed that it is downsizing a small number of its members following a rocky start to the game. The news is the result of a strategic reorganization aimed at having the company lock in on bringing the next significant iteration of the free-to-play multiplayer shooter.
The studio stressed that it is assisting affected employees in getting new prospects though remaining focused on the long-term development.
Co-Founders Skip Pay The Co-Founders Co-opts their pay, shifting it towards the business to increase its chances of success.
To show solidarity, Co-Founder Nicholas Bagamian and its CEO Ian Proulx have made an announcement that they will not cover any salaries in the foreseeable future. In an official announcement in LinkedIn, Proulx indicated that the reduction was done to shift focus on developing activities and work towards enhancing players.
“We call it locking in, we put the game first and we put it behind us so we can focus on what is next,” said Proulx.
Launch struggles and backlash Launch struggles and backlash
The launch of Splitgate 2 was not so easy. The network of negative community sentiment was brought about by the following issues:
Make FPS Great Again Incident: On a June 2022 Summer Game Fest guest appearance, Proulx was sporting a red hat mimicking the Trump MAGA hat. It caused outrage in the social media, and though he said that it was a joke, he should have left it alone. He still apologized later on about the occurrence and recognized the message that he did not intend.
Exorbitant Microtransactions: People did not hesitate to blame the game in terms of monetization as bundles cost up to $80 USD. After negative feedback, 1047 Games had an offer that cut prices by half and offered partial refunds.
mixed Steam reviews: On Steam, the game received mixed reviews; one of the main criticisms is unbalanced gameplay, monetization, lack of ranked modes, and technical glitches.
The amount of players and involvement
Although the game received a significant number of simultaneous users (approximately 25,000 players on Steam), it did not sustain it. By way of contrast, there was a greater interest in Splitgate initially maintained over a comparatively far longer-term period during the time when the jump into Early Access was being made.
A completely unfinished ranking system, poor rewards on progression and a disorganized launch harmed early retention during the first two weeks.
Splitgate 2 What comes Next
All this happened despite the setbacks, but 1047 Games claims to be determined to the development of Splitgate 2. The team in its latest update stated it would work to:
Get better game balance and pacing
Design new economy in-game and cosmetics
Add complete ranked mode
Provide new features requested by the community with subsequent updates
“This is only the start. We are still growing, still improving and we are listening, said the development team.
In conclusion
it should be pointed out that it is quite possible that the Soviet Union did not fall on its own. The case of Splitgate 2 shows that being an opportunistic company with a bad business plan when launching a high-profile project is dangerous to both the financial state of the company and its reputation. Nevertheless, the extensive communication of 1047 Games, sacrifice of its co-founders, and the development plan may make the trust that has been lost among the community.
Only the future will determine whether Splitgate 2 will have a chance to redeem itself and perform as well (if not better) as its predecessor.
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