'I grew up playing Halo, I'm tired of playing the same Call of Duty every year, and I wish we could have Titanfall 3!': Splitgate 2 boss slams the state of shooters as he surprise launches a battle royale mode

Splitgate: Battle Royale Official Launch Trailer - YouTube

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.

"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."

Ian Proulx takes the stage at Summer Game Fest with a hat reading "MAKE FPS GREAT AGAIN" — (Image credit: Summer Game Fest)

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.

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.

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