Splitgate to stay in extended beta for "foreseeable future" after 10 million player downloads

Have you ever heard of the expression “a good problem to have?” Well, that expression perfectly sums up what the developers at 1047 Games are experiencing in regard to Splitgate. 

The FPS shooter that combines Halo and Portal will be putting off its full release yet again, staying in its extended open beta. The initial decision to stay in beta was made earlier this August, as the devs were trying to ensure their servers could be up to par for a full game. This came after Splitgate exploded in popularity after its beta was released on consoles and PC players began picking up the game again. 

However, a few weeks later, and the developers are making another decision to delay Splitgate’s release. The reasoning behind this is the game has simply gotten more popular than they expected. 1047 Games wasn’t expecting this amount of players and need more time to get the game ready for full release. 

Splitgate putting off full release due to unexpected popularity

This decision comes on the heels of the developers revealing Splitgate has surpassed 10 million total players. With the current server player count standing at 4,000, it makes sense why the devs feel the game needs more time. However, that server player count will be increased to 175,000 in a few weeks. 

It took a few weeks, but our server situation is better than ever! We can now support 175k concurrent players! And the server improvements are only going to continue. https://t.co/E2sWrxQevx

— Splitgate - Beta Fish 🐠 (@Splitgate) August 15, 2021

By that time that comes around, Splitgate will still be in open beta. The game was slated to release later this month 1047 Games CEO Ian Proulx stated that the company wants to do things “the right way.” This means ensuring a stable experience for all players before the game rushes into full release. 

The CEO and 1047 Games sent out a press release stating that Splitgate will “remain in open beta for the foreseeable future as the small studio continues to scale the popular arena portal shooter that has seen more than 10 million downloads in its first 30 days of open beta."

This is disappointing to fans who were hoping to see Splitgate reach its full potential with a full release but this seems like the best decision for all involved. Players still get time with the game and will see the server player count increased by 170,000 in a few week’s time. 

Meanwhile, on the developer’s side, they can continue to work on the game to ensure it’s ready for launch. Proulx stated that the beta will be still be updated frequently and introduce additional features along with improving the servers.