Studio behind 'Splitgate' wants to be the next Riot Games

Splitgate has taken the esports world by storm, and developer 1047 Games is just getting started. Co-founder and CEO Ian Proulx claims the goal is to become the next Riot Games, Techcrunch  reported Tuesday. 

It’s a lofty aspiration, to be sure. After all, Riot Games is behind esports juggernauts like League of Legends and Valorant. However, after some recent news that 1047 Games received $100 million from investors to help grow Splitgate, that goal might just be within reach. 

“The scope of what we can do is now through the roof,” Proulx said via Techcrunch. “There’s so much we couldn’t think about because we were a tiny team with a tiny budget, but now everything is on the table. We’re focusing on the long term — I look at the game as being 25% done. We don’t need to be Fortnite tomorrow, but now it really is about building the next Riot Games, the next big games business.”

Splitgate is a free-to-play arena shooter that harkens back to Halo’s  glory days while injecting some topsy turvy Portal-like physics elements. In that sense, it’s not exactly rife with new ideas, but being a throwback is part of its appeal. 

“People grew up playing these games, and the reason [the market] is dead is not because they stopped loving them,” Proulx said via Techcrunch. “No one has moved the needle because there hasn’t been a lot of innovation, and there hasn’t been something that’s accessible to the masses.”

Here’s to hoping Splitgate’s success keeps trucking along. 

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.