Â鶹ԼÅÄ

By Aaron Bayne // Â鶹ԼÅÄ The Social contributor // 23 August 2021

If you are clued up at all in what’s what of video games, you can’t have gone the past two months without hearing about Splitgate.

This unexpected hit from 1047 Games is currently doing the rounds as a hottest free-to-play arena shooter. And refreshingly its success doesn’t rely on franchise names, or gimmicky premises. Instead, it hinges on the power of simplicity and nostalgia. You see, Splitgate is a combination of some incredibly popular games from the 2000s. Anyone giving it a go will immediately recognise the distinct influence of Halo, mixed with the teleporting fun of Portal. This might seem like a pairing destined for success, and… it is.

But it isn’t Splitgate’s premise alone that has gamers rushing to it so fast that it literally can’t keep up.

1047 Games are a small indie developer that launched Splitgate over on PC back in 2019. But a recent console beta saw the game skyrocket in popularity. It topped PlayStation and Xbox charts, surpassed 10 million downloads, and even faced some extensive queues and server outages as everyone rushed to play.

Yet despite featuring an ingenious combination of gaming’s past, Splitgate seems to be resonating with players because it marks the potential return of the arena shooter.

1047 have spoken about their influences in Halo, Quake, Doom and so on. Games where the focus is gunplay, map design, and tight-knit mechanics. Games that were all the rage across the 90s and 2000s, leading to fun, experimental and competitive experiences.

Splitgate, in that same manner, has that experimental flare, as players try to come to grips with the game’s cocktail of guns and portal. But despite having the room for mastery, Splitgate is also entirely approachable to new players looking for a fun time.

With its mechanical and gameplay focus it feels refreshing when compared to many other popular shooters. Modern multiplayer titles are so often focused on the grand scale: battle royale; evolving worlds; massive player counts; and overcomplicated premises. Whereas Splitgate doesn’t seem to have much interest. The team were even asked about battle royale only to make

Yet does Splitgate’s aversion to battle royale signal a turn in the tide for the worldwide phenomenon? Many of the biggest battle royale titles are looking to other avenues to expand and evolve the genre. Fortnite is pushing its Among Us-like Imposters, Apex Legends has worked backwards to a round-based Arenas mode, and Battlefield 2042 are playing coy with their battle royale evolution Hazard Zone.

And that's just to mention those that are changing. We are seeing the continued success of arena-like titles such as Rainbow Six Siege and Valorant.

Gamers also have their fingers crossed for the triumphant return of an icon later this year. Halo Infinite is set to launch with a revamped, reworked, modernized and free-to-play multiplayer experience. Bethesda have even announced the retro remaster of FPS arena legend Quake.

But just because the arena shooter is clearly rising in popularity, does it mean that battle royale is on its way out? I think it is too early to say, as the battle royale still holds a lot of weight. Despite Halo’s return there are rampant calls for the title to include its own battle royale – something 343 Industries have adamantly denied.

Apex Legends remains as popular as ever, and Warzone has updates ahead after the announcement of Call of Duty Vanguard. We're also still seeing new takes on the genre cropping up with Naraka Bladepoint and Hunters Arena: Legends.

However, what it does show, is that gamers are looking for that kick back and relax experience. Something a little more focused on what makes games fun. I love a tense and tactical shooter, but the state of these games mean players are having to keep up with meta, map changes, gun ranks, broken skins, and hero type characters to develop playstyles with. It’s why so many rolled their eyes at the announcement of XDefiant.

Those elements are there for those who look for it in the likes of Splitgate, but they can also be entirely ignored. At the end of the day, it’s just you, guns and portals. It doesn’t need to be more complicated than that.

As someone that had the arena era largely pass them by, I would be more than thrilled to see it make a steady return.

I love an expansive multiplayer experience, but at its heart, I just like playing games with my friends. Games like Warzone or Apex can be excellent when you work as a coordinated team with a tactical approach. But those are hard things to develop on when all your mates work full time jobs and to different schedules. Whereas the arena shooter features a drop-in and straight to the point experience. Even if you only play for half an hour, you’ll still have fun.

In that same breath though, arena shooters can learn a lot from battle royales, which heavily popularised the live service and free-to-play experience. By implementing live elements into the arena shooter, you can keep players engaged and interested. This is the sort of revitalisation I think the arena shooter needs, and it’s something Splitgate is trying to capitalise on. Halo Infinite is already making strides in this department by featuring a battle pass that doesn’t expire at a season’s end. Instead, players can just take their time and enjoy themselves.

In reality however, the battle royale isn’t going anywhere yet. The only reason this is a discussion worth having is because the genre has dominated the games industry for so long. But as they reach a stalemate, delivering fun but at times laborious experiences, arena shooters like Splitgate have went in the opposite direction, with simple, approachable and old school vibes. So as battle royale is on the backfoot, it looks like it’s the arena shooters time to shine once more.