1047 Games is ending feature development for Splitgate in order to focus on a new game set in the same universe, the American games studio announced Friday.

Game support for Splitgate in the form of smaller updates and fixes will still continue. The free-to-play multiplayer FPS' servers and in-game store will also remain online, as well as players' existing items, progression and Splitcoin. As a "thank you" to its community, 1047 Games will be releasing a new battle pass on Sept. 15 for free.

"After careful consideration and much deliberation," the 1047 announcement reads, "the 1047 Games team has determined that in order to build the game fans deserve — and to build it in a way that isn’t trying to retrofit and live operate an existing product — we are ending feature development of Splitgate.

"We’re turning our attention away from iterative, smaller updates and going all-in to focus on a new game in the Splitgate universe which will present revolutionary, not evolutionary, changes to our game. It will be a shooter, it will have portals and it will be built in Unreal Engine 5. Oh, and it will be free."

No further details were shared regarding the upcoming game as 1047 mentioned elsewhere that players would not be learning more about it "for a while."

This is a bit of a surprise considering the game recently entered its second season, but not that hard to believe because of its unorthodox release history.

Splitgate was originally released in early access for free in May 2019 for PC (via Steam). After gaining some major momentum in summer 2021, the game's beta was released that July.

Around the same time, Splitgate expanded its platforms to Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, with the cross-play feature available for all platforms.

Since then, however, the Splitgate beta has remained extended indefinitely, a decision initially made so that the team could "be prepared for massive scale" when it officially launched.

Ultimately, it appears this move was made to truly give 1047 Games and the Splitgate universe a true, fresh start to welcome in fans, both new and old.

"We think we have something special," the 1047 FAQ blog reads. "We know from our community that they believe in Splitgate. But we face a reality that we are trying to update, upgrade and build for the future all at the same time. The best thing for the active community is to give them more people to play with and a game we feel is fully worthy of their fandom — every map, every skin, every moment of gameplay."

This article was originally published on dbltap as 1047 Games Ending Splitgate Development, Focusing on New Title in Same Universe.