Online game "Splitgate 2"

Free shooters are everywhere these days, so standing out is tough. The team at 1047 Games borrowed ideas from across the genre, then bolted on an original mechanic—two-way portals just like Valve’s Portal. At any moment you can open a gate to flank an enemy, ferry teammates from one end of the map to the other, or escape a pursuer. It’s this twist that sets the Splitgate duology apart. The sequel launched recently, but after a wave of negative feedback it was rolled back into open beta—still free. Let’s find out why it was criticised and whether the shooter is worth your time right now.

The original online arena shooter was built by two students as a class project. They copied the pace of old-school arena titles, took cues from Fortnite and Rocket League, and lifted the portal concept wholesale from Portal. Mid-match, players could open linked gates to pull off surprise flanks. The idea was polished and marketed to genre fans, so the first Splitgate racked up roughly 600 000 Steam downloads—impressive for a college start-up.

After the May 2019 Steam release the duo secured $10 million in funding, opened an office in Nevada, and expanded the game with new maps, guns, characters and cosmetics. The honeymoon didn’t last: by 2022 numbers were dire, and in 2025 the servers were shut down for good so the team could focus on the sequel. Splitgate 2 isn’t just more of the same—it’s a full aesthetic overhaul. Part one was grim and shadow-soaked; part two explodes with colour like The Finals, Fortnite, both Overwatches and every other modern hero shooter.

Like its predecessor, the game is completely free, runs fine in Russia, and ships with full Russian text. Just grab it from Steam—no extra client, no anti-cheat install, no e-mail registration. Your Steam account is your login, which is refreshingly simple.

Everything is framed as a glitzy sports show: roaring crowd, play-by-play announcer, exactly like The Finals. You’ll even spot grandstands of cheering fans if you glance sideways—though you rarely have time, because the tempo is insane. Constant movement is mandatory: high/low jumps, slides, portals. Sit in a corner with a sniper and someone will portal behind you and end the fun.

The simplest portal trick is losing a tail: drop an exit on one wall, an entrance on another, dive through and pop out behind your pursuer. Veterans pull this off in under a second, so chasing is risky. Aside from portals, Splitgate feels like a late-’90s arena shooter—rapid, low-TTK matches, compact arsenal, vertical maps with central atriums and flank routes. It looks and sounds better than the first game, brighter and cleaner.

Modern concession: you pick a class before each round. There are only three, but each is distinct and well-balanced. First up is Aeros, the mobility pick. He passively speeds ability cooldowns for the whole squad and can briefly out-run anyone. His default load-out is a shotgun built for close quarters, but every weapon and gadget can be swapped in the customiser.

Next is Meridian—the recommended starter. He can heal himself and allies, and his wall-piercing scan reveals enemies to the entire team. His starter rifles are forgiving, his control scheme intuitive, and his grenade-like Time Dome slows enemies while speeding friends, priceless on king-of-the-hill maps.

Third comes Sabrask, the tank. He accelerates equipment (grenades, mines) cooldowns for the squad and can drop a Smart Wall: you shoot through it, enemies can’t. If you usually pick warrior or barbarian in RPGs, start here. Lore tidbit: Meridian is from Venus, Aeros from Earth, Sabrask from Mars.

Modes: more than a dozen. Classic «Arena» is 4v4 deathmatch on tight maps, straight out of 1999. «Team Desmatch» splits eight players into rounds; first side to 25 frags in a round wins it. «Dominion» is king-of-the-hill for two quartets. «Elimination» is Arena with escalating respawn timers—every death hurts the team. «Hot Zone» offers a single central hill; «Lockdown» demands you hold all hills at once. «Petard» is the Counter-Strike bit: 4v4 bomb plant/defuse.

Big fights live in «Onslaught»—24 players on Glacier, Drought or Fracture. It’s chaotic and probably not your first stop as a rookie. «Splitball» is murder-football: carry the ball to score. A mini battle-royale drops you in by air like Apex. Finally, «Laboratory» is creative mode: build maps, write custom rules, invite up to 16 friends to test them.

Free-to-play means a loud progression track. No pay-to-win, just cosmetics—character skins, weapon wraps, flashy effects. Playing earns XP; battle-pass quests (three assists in a match, headshots, etc.) boost gains. Rare outfits are nearly impossible to buy with free currency unless you queue with a dev and beat them—then you might earn the rarest skin in the game.

Currency two is Proelium (purple coins with an arrow)—the main cosmetic token. Earn it via battle-pass dailies and future events. Currency three is «gold» Splitcoins—real-money tokens if you want to support the devs. Right now there are no events because the game is back in beta, but they’ll return at full launch. The shop is strictly cosmetic; balance is untouched. The only real omission is a training mode—newbies must learn classes and portal placement in live matches. Here’s hoping a tutorial arrives for release.

Criticism targets net-code hiccups and a clumsy UI: you just hit «Play» and take whatever mode the server gives you. We had no technical issues—matchmaking took one to three minutes, hit registration felt crisp, no rubber-banding—though you’ll want solid internet. On the plus side, violence is minimal: no blood sprays, defeated avatars simply dissolve after a few seconds.

Splitgate 2 is for players who love constant motion and never cower in dark corners. Portal mechanics take getting used to, but soon they feel like a natural extension of your toolkit. Three classes are easier to master than the dozen-plus heroes of most squad shooters, yet there’s still room for flashy gun and outfit collectors—provided you’ve got the currency. Yes, there are rough edges, but the price tag is zero: download on Steam and dive into the roaring arena.

Zarium. September 2025