LINUX_GAMING Posts
Splitgate 2 has been in development since September 2022 and 1047 Studios held several open and closed Alpha tests starting last year. After the February open Alpha, they announced there would be an open Beta in May, but had offered few details. They've recently announced the open Beta will begin on 22 May, will feature a battle pass, and will stay active until the game's official release.
This new game is basically a redesign of Splitgate 1, with the addition of factions, ability and weapon perks/attachments, and innovative game mechanics. It brings with it portals, as a central game mechanic, several game modes and unique weapons, and faction-specific abilities. My favorite game mode during the alpha testing was a giant map 8 vs 8 vs 8 battle mode. It features a tiered battle pass, with additions each month, over a 3 month period.
The official release is expected to be later (presumably October) 2025, at which point player progression will reset, but any cosmetics you've obtained will carry over into the official release. My assumption of an October release is based on comments from the CEO and to put the game battle pass in a date range for the 3 month window to reset in January. The game will have support for PC, Linux/Steam Deck, and all major consoles.
Splitgate 1 is an arena shooter with portals and various game modes, a lot of different weapons, and many different armor and weapon cosmetics. It was created by a couple of college students and was initially released for early access in 2019 and officially released in September 2022, when Splitgate 2 development was announced. It's often compared to a Halo with portals, which allow you to move around the map quickly by opening a portal at one point and a second portal at another point. One unique feature to Splitgate 1 is portal racing, which is a timed course moving through user created portals and collecting balls on the map.
It exploded in popularity while in beta, when it was released for consoles, and the game's servers quickly became overloaded. This wasn't expected by the developers, it frustrated many players, and it slowly declined in player base, even after the server issues were resolved. Splitgate 1 has sort of a cult following among it's remaining dedicated players, who have been extremely vocal about the direction of Splitgate 2. Initially, it was said that Splitgate 2 "wouldn't be a sequel, would have portals, and would be in the Splitgate universe". It is assumed the new game was named Splitgate 2 for name recognition, even though it has many differences from the original.
