Splitgate 2's big battle royale reveal has garnered attention for all the wrong reasons.
Splitgate 2 developer 1047 Games CEO recently announced that its game is getting a battle royale mode, extending its arena shooter-with-portals gameplay to a wider map format. However, that’s not why the game has become one of the most-talked-about reveals of Summer Game Fest 2025 today.
A quick look at online reactions to the presentation will reveal that the majority of viewers have a bone to pick with 1047 Games’ CEO Ian Proulx, who showed up to tout new content for Splitgate 2. The CEO began his reveal by throwing shade at the modern FPS scene by deriding Call of Duty and wearing a “Make FPS Great Again” hat, which viewers found contradictory, considering that he went on to announce a trendy battle royale mode for his own shooter.
Splitgate 2 CEO draws controversy following battle royale mode reveal
During this week’s Summer Game Fest showcase, 1047 Games CEO Ian Proulx showed up with what can be described as a rather edgy choice of headwear: a hat emblazoned with the words “Make FPS Great Again,” which proved to foreshadow his sentiments on the FPS scene while introducing new content for Splitgate 2.
Proulx said:
“[...] I grew up playing Halo, and I'm tired of playing the same Call of Duty every year, and I wish we could have Titanfall 3. With Splitgate 2, we asked ourselves how we can take portals to the next level.”
He continued by asking: “What if you could portal to entirely different worlds? So we combined the action, movement, and gunplay of arena shooters with the scale and intensity of something much bigger. Splitgate Battle Royale launches free right now, and it's [expletive] awesome."
Immediately after the show, it became clear that his small speech hadn’t left a good impression on online viewers. Twitter/X users have noted that Proulx’s choice to decry seemingly mainstream shooters before playing a battle royale trailer featuring Imagine Dragons music was a little tone-deaf. User Mythic, for example, noted: “Trying to paint yourself as the savior of the fps genre and then putting out a battle royale is kind of funny.”
Another Twitter/X user, Stella, said “This [expletive] was in such bad taste, also the energy he gave off was so gross, there are other amazing FPS games out there not headed by triple a studios that have unique ideas. Humble attitudes go a long way…”
Reactions on the reveal are a little stronger on the official Splitgate subreddit. Some users are calling the reveal “cringe as hell” while others note that wanting Titanfall 3 before taking the franchise into battle royale is exactly why Titanfall 3 didn’t happen. It’s likely that the hat didn’t help.
Splitgate 2 is officially launching today after entering open beta, with a brand-new battle royale mode for everyone to participate in. It’s off to a rough start reputation-wise, but there’s time for the game to turn things around.