Ian Proulx on Splitgate’s Reset: Arena Reloaded, Lessons Learned, and What Changed | XEP Interview

In this interview, Luke Lohr sits down with Ian Proulx, CEO and co-founder of 1047 Games, to talk ‪@Splitgate‬'s turbulent stretch, what the team learned, and how the relaunch as Splitgate: Arena Reloaded is meant to get the game back on track. We discuss the Summer Game Fest hat controversy, how it changed the conversation around Splitgate, and what lessons Ian took away from that moment — before moving into the gameplay, systems, and philosophy behind Splitgate: Arena Reloaded. Topics include: The Summer Game Fest moment and how it reshaped the conversation around Splitgate Lessons learned from that period and what Ian would do differently Why building a sequel is different than building a new IP Where Splitgate 2 missed player expectations (classes, abilities, loadouts) The decision to pull the game back and reset Why Arena Reloaded refocused on gunplay, movement, and portals “Battle Royale” vs “Arena Royale” and what that mode is meant to be Multi-queue playlist selection and ranked progression Retention as the key metric: quit rate vs requeue rate Portal balance and accessibility (Portal Overloading, EMP grenades, Portal Trails) Optional playlists for new and veteran players Progression, mastery camos, and player incentives Monetization philosophy and rebuilding trust Performance, readability, and the 2026 quality bar 👉 Clear takes. No console-war noise. 🔊 iTunes: apple.co/2OL6SSV | Spotify: spoti.fi/33gSiXa 📅 Timestamps are in the chapters below 🎧 Join us live Saturdays on YouTube 💬 Share your thoughts in the comments — we read them all. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome & intro 0:44 Why Summer Game Fest changed the Splitgate conversation 1:10 Biggest mistakes, lessons learned, and why the game launched too early 3:36 Intent vs impact: addressing the SGF controversy 5:57 Communication breakdown and what Ian would redo 7:47 From Splitgate 2 to Arena Reloaded: why the reset happened 8:27 Arena Reloaded gameplay goals and returning to arena roots 9:03 Battle Royale vs Arena Royale explained 10:38 Community feedback, ranked features, and multi-queue 12:27 Player sentiment, retention, and stabilizing the community 13:33 Scale vs passion: learning from Highguard’s philosophy 15:45 Data, analytics, and balancing loud feedback vs real metrics 17:02 Retention, quit rate, and requeue rate explained 18:36 Making portals accessible without killing skill expression 20:33 Bots, mastery camos, and progression philosophy 21:36 Monetization, Proelium, and rebuilding player trust 23:37 Gameplay tuning, TTK, recoil, and controller improvements 24:55 Performance, audio clarity, and the 2026 quality bar 25:48 Where to play Splitgate Arena Reloaded + closing thoughts