Like most gamers, I heard about Splitgate in the summer of 2021, when it absolutely blew up on Xbox. A first-person shooter from a small group of first-time developers answered the question: Okay, but what if… with portals?
How do you follow up a viral hit? Just make everything better. That, at least, has been our intent from the start of the development of Splitgate 2. At its core, Splitgate is a fun game that’s hard to put down, but we knew it was a long way from a true AAA experience. That’s been our focus the past two years – make something that can stand toe-to-toe with the greatest shooters around.
To make that a reality, we had to hire a killer crew of veteran developers to up our capabilities. I’m lucky to work with people who’ve made some of my favorite games, including developers from Riot, 343i, and Activision Blizzard. We needed all that talent to make sure Splitgate 2 wasn’t a “1.5” but a true sequel. One that could satisfy the itch for something new and exciting from both our current fanbase and many more new players.
Did we do it? You’ll get to judge for yourself soon enough as Splitgate 2 will be playable at Gamescom 2024. For now, I can’t reveal too much. But I can tell you what the team was focused on improving with Splitgate 2. We wanted an experience that was challenging, but also approachable, where you could make meaningful choices before ever stepping in the arena. And, of course, we wanted it to look amazing.
To make that a reality, we had to hire a killer crew of veteran developers to up our capabilities. I’m lucky to work with people who’ve made some of my favorite games, including developers from Riot, 343i, and Activision Blizzard. We needed all that talent to make sure Splitgate 2 wasn’t a “1.5” but a true sequel. One that could satisfy the itch for something new and exciting from both our current fanbase and many more new players.
Did we do it? You’ll get to judge for yourself soon enough as Splitgate 2 will be playable at Gamescom 2024. For now, I can’t reveal too much. But I can tell you what the team was focused on improving with Splitgate 2. We wanted an experience that was challenging, but also approachable, where you could make meaningful choices before ever stepping in the arena. And, of course, we wanted it to look amazing.
We rethought our approach to portals, hoping to ensure true Portal Gods could excel, but that no one had to constantly portal to taste victory. We added a faction-based system to add more depth to the gameplay experience. And we rebuilt everything from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5. There will be familiar elements, but on the whole, Splitgate 2 should look and feel completely fresh from the original.
As “the marketing guy,” I worked very closely on the cinematic trailer that was just released. Of course, it’s not true gameplay, but it is an amazing representation of what you’ll experience in Splitgate 2. Along with some talented collaborators, I helped ensure that the trailer is wall-to-wall with details. Yes, those are real maps. Yes, those are real Splitgate 2 weapons. Yes, that is a trail following you out of a portal. And yes, I’m telling you, in the house of Halo, that dual wielding was always awesome, so we brought it back.
For now, that’s all I can say. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait much longer to learn more. Wishlist Splitgate 2 now on Xbox to make sure you don’t miss anything.
SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded
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