Splitgate: Arena Reloaded Studio on Low Player Numbers: “Steam Charts Don’t Measure Fun”

While developer 1047 Games may have hoped to turn things around for Splitgate 2 with its recent relaunch, dubbed Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, things haven’t been going as well as the studio might have hoped. At the time of publishing, Splitgate: Arena Reloaded is currently sitting at 556 concurrent players, with a 24-hour peak of 1070 players, according to SteamDB.

In response to this, the studio has posted a statement on social media, noting that “Steam Charts don’t measure fun.” 1047 Games went on to talk about how hard it has been working on rebuilding Splitgate “from the ground up” over the last six months, and how community feedback is helping with the development of upcoming content like Arena Royale.

“[Steam Charts] show one number, on one platform, at one given moment,” wrote the studio. “They don’t show the full picture or what it feels like to actually play, and they definitely don’t capture the community that’s actively helping shape what Arena Reloaded is becoming (including upcoming content like Arena Royale).”

“Over the past six months, we rebuilt Splitgate from the ground up because we believe in the game, our team, and our community. The 1047 team remains committed to delivering the best version of Splitgate possible.”

The studio went on to thank its community for its feedback and active participation in Splitgate: Arena Reloaded. Along with this, it also welcomed those who haven’t yet tried the multiplayer shooter.

“To our amazing community: thank you. Your feedback and passion have helped make Arena Reloaded better every day,” wrote the studio. “And to everyone who hasn’t played yet: Arena Reloaded is free, the gameplay’s the best it’s ever been, and we’d love for you to jump in and form your own opinion. A lot of passionate people worked very hard on it.”

Splitgate: Arena Reloaded launched just last month, and as we recorded in our coverage, it had managed to get less than 10 percent of the peak concurrent player count Splitgate 2 got. The relaunch came in light of Splitgate 2 seeing poor reception, which led 1047 Games to announce that it would be completely reworked, and would spend the rest of the year going “back to beta”.

Acknowledging the feedback 1047 Games had gotten from Splitgate 2 players, studio CEO Ian Proulx spoke about how it was a less-than-ideal launch, and how the game still felt like a beta.

“This doesn’t feel like a launched game as much as we want to pretend it was, and obviously we said it was,” he said. “It feels like a beta. There’s bugs still. There’s features that are missing that — obviously not every game has to have every feature — but there’s certain things that should be in a finished product. There’s too many bugs, and we’re hitting the reset button.”

The studio’s plans to rework Splitgate 2 involved going back to the “classic arena game mode experience” that made the original Splitgate a hit. Along with this, the studio was also revisiting “basic features” as described by the community, including leaderboards, improved progression, and more surfaces where portals could be opened.

Splitgate: Arena Reloaded is available for free on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.