The funding was just one step in our journey as a gaming studio, an important achievement, but just one step. So, what now? Excellent question! Let me start by telling you what we know for sure, then we can have a little fun by thinking about some possibilities.

What we’re doing now

First things first, we gotta expand the team! If we have the goal of becoming a AAA studio, we have to grow into one, first. Think about the number one feature you want to see in Splitgate. 1047 Games needs more software engineers to turn all these features into reality, more swiftly. Specifically, we’re looking for Backend Engineers, Data Engineers, Full-stack Engineers, QA Engineers, and Unreal Engine Developers. Check out this link to apply or send it to someone you know who might be qualified!

Like what was mentioned last week, we do read your thoughts and opinions about the game on social media. One comment we receive occasionally is, “Splitgate needs more updates.” We couldn’t agree more! At the time of writing this blog, the number of people employed to code Splitgate is in the single digits. As talented as our current developer team is, we definitely want to bring you all the type of things you care about (bug fixes, new features, etc.) at a quicker pace.

So, why haven’t we hired more engineers yet? I can assure you it isn’t for lack of trying, and for that matter, we actually have hired a few since tweeting about only having four engineers. The problem is the vetting process and how quality software engineers are in extremely high demand. Not only do we want to update Splitgate at a faster pace, but we also want these updates to be bigger. This requires us to be on the lookout for experienced individuals for the positions we’re trying to fill and not hastily hire the wrong candidates. Thankfully, our recent funding will help us compete for the services of the most talented engineers, so it’s only a matter of time!

What we can do with more Engineers (note: nothing listed below is official, only hypotheticals)

We already know that we want to update the game more frequently if we had more engineers, so what kinds of things could we include in these updates? The official funding announcement said, “Everything is now on the table, and the scope of what we can achieve just got 10x bigger!” So, let’s use our imagination to think about what’s possible!

Earlier this week our Twitter said that we would be adding a “Forge mode” to the game before Halo Infinite. In my infinite wisdom, I thought this would be a funny/clever thing to say in reply to KFC Gaming. Yes, it was I, Endo, who clicked Tweet on that one, but in my defense, I only did so after consulting someone from the dev team! What ended up happening was it generated some buzz because it looked like we were calling out Halo, both things we didn’t necessarily intend. On top of that, a map editor feature most likely won’t be close in functionality to what Halo Infinite’s map maker will be.

Despite that, a map editor feature would still be a massive undertaking and a huge addition to Splitgate! As a player myself, I would love the possibility of disabling certain portal pads and adding new pads that totally change the way maps get played. Pantheon, but the whole ground is one giant portal surface. Stadium, but you add an entirely new upper level. It’s not just portal pads that could be added, of course. You could add walls, bridges, props, weapons, and new spawn points! I would wager that the game mode Contamination would be a lot more fun with custom maps! The number of possibilities is exciting with a feature like that.

A single player experience is also on the table. Sure, this could be a Halo-style single player campaign, but what else could we do? It’s no secret that the arena combat known as “Splitgate” is treated like a sport in the game’s universe. One thing we could do with that idea is something like “franchise mode,” like in traditional sports games. With an overhaul of our bot AI, the game could introduce a large roster of AI Players who can be recruited to play on a team with you. Each AI player has a set of stat ratings like aim, portal movement, and awareness. You and your team would then progress through a sports season and play against other AI teams and eventually compete for the championship. It wouldn’t have to stop with single player either, maybe you could pit your recruited team against the team of another real player! This is another idea with endless possibilities.

Many of you have asked for a Nintendo Switch version of the game; this task would be much easier with an expanded team of engineers! Personally, I am very intrigued with the idea of playing Splitgate on the Steam Deck, so I understand the fascination with being able to portal-on-the-go. The Switch isn’t the only platform we’re not on, however! Mobile is a possibility, but we’d have to figure out if we’d want to approach it like Fortnite (with cross-play) or Call of Duty Mobile (a standalone game). Google Stadia and Amazon Luna could be other platforms to investigate.

These are large scale ideas (emphasis on ideas, not official announcements!), but the quicker introduction of smaller scale features is also something to think about when it comes to adding more engineers. One thing at a time I suppose!

All in all, we want you, our community, to think of Splitgate as how it co be in the future, not just how it is today. We appreciate all your support as 1047 Games progresses towards a fully-fledged AAA studio!

-Endo

1047 Games