"Steam charts don't measure fun," says Splitgate dev as relaunched FPS debuts with a 90% lower peak

A big budget sequel to one of my favorite competitive FPS games ever, Splitgate 2 was set to be a dream shooter for me. In many ways, it really hit the spot, but its huge ambition resulted in a bloated experience, with unnecessary hero shooter elements tarnishing what was otherwise some excellent gameplay. Swiftly pulling the game back into a beta state, 1047 Games has trimmed off some of the extra fat and relaunched it as the more streamlined, true-to-the-original Splitgate Arena Reloaded. While I believe it's much better for it, its Steam player count hasn't seen a significant resurgence. Responding to those concerned about the amount of people playing Arena Reloaded, 1047 has posted a new statement with a simple message: "Steam charts don't measure fun."

When Splitgate 2 dropped, it achieved a decent Steam peak of around 25,000 players. But, as is so often the case with new multiplayer releases, things quickly tailed off, and around a month later, 1047 confirmed it was reworking the game.

Following its rebrand and relaunch on December 17, it struggled to achieve anywhere near the same kind of spike it achieved months prior. On relaunch day, a peak of 2,297 Steam players was recorded, which is roughly 90% lower than the record set by Splitgate 2. Now, a couple of weeks on, daily concurrent peaks are floating around the 900 to 1,000 mark. While Splitgate Arena Reloaded is also available on PC through Epic Games, and is on Playstation and Xbox consoles too, the trend seen on Steam has been heavily scrutinized, with many deeming the reworked version of the game a failure.

Said scrutiny appears to have irked 1047. In a new message posted on Splitgate's social channels, the studio says that an obsession with numbers on Valve's platform doesn't tell the entire story.

"Steam Charts don't measure fun," the statement begins. "They show one number, on one platform, at one given moment. They don't show the full picture or what it feels like to actually play, and they definitely don't capture the community that's actively helping shape what Arena Reloaded is becoming (including upcoming content like Arena Royale).

"Over the past six months, we rebuilt Splitgate from the ground up because we believe in the game, our team, and our community. The 1047 team remains committed to delivering the best version of Splitgate possible."

The message also encourages doubters to give Splitgate Arena Reloaded a try (given it's a free-to-play game) to "form your own opinion."

I'd certainly agree with that final part - anyone wishing to dunk on Splitgate's rather messy 2025 and its current, underwhelming Steam player count should definitely jump in and give it a spin. It's got great maps, superb gunplay, and outplaying opponents using portals is always a thrill (and now much more important with abilities getting the boot).

However, despite Splitgate's presence on other platforms, such a low Steam player count is still hard to shrug off and does leave me concerned. It's true that just because a game struggles on PC doesn't mean it's not performing well on consoles - Call of Duty is a great example of this. It's also true that this more condensed, streamlined version of Splitgate will be easier and less costly to manage. But when a free-to-play game is struggling to hit four-figure player count peaks on Steam, it's hard to feel fully confident in its longevity. I hope I'm wrong.