Earlier this week, we once again had the wonderfulSummer Game Festhosted by the ever-present Geoff Keighley. Besides the reveals of titles likeResident Evil RequiemandAtomic Heart 2,there was a showcase forSplitgate 2, which garnered quite a bit of attention, possibly forall the wrong reasons.
Splitgate 2, a sequel to thePortal-infusedHalospiritual successorSplitgate, already had its fair share of friction, adding in a hero-like system and movement shooter mechanics bound to make any FPS fan groan.However, when the CEO of the company, Ian Proulx, came out with a “Make FPS Great Again” hat, those became the lesser issues.
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Inevitable? Impossible? Somehow, this feels like both.
The hat was throwing shade at essentially every other popular multiplayer FPS game, which is honestly commonplace, but it was also making a blatant political reference to Donald Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again”, essentially splitting their audience in two over a single unmistakable slogan.
Immediately after the presentation, the CEOmade a postelaborating on the hat, but notably refusing to issue any sort of apology. After the pot has been stirred for a few more days,Proulx has finally issued aformal apology, both explaining the core beliefs behind the hat, while continuing to disavow any official political statement.
In the above post, labeled “No excuses. I’m sorry,” he begins by explaining that the hat’s initial purpose was to “break through the noise” and “grab attention.” To be fair, if that was the intent, it completely worked—just look at all the riled-up gamers this hat harbored online.
Proulx also maintains that the team “did not intend for this to be taken in any political way whatsoever,”which is plausible considering the fact that the hat screamed “any attention is good attention,” even if that attention is referring to the mostvolatile political climateAmericans have ever seen.
It’s worth noting that the announcement at the Summer Game Fest took place in LA, the same time and location where massive protests have been ongoing due to political issues related to the current political administration.
That said, Proulx seems to understand that at least some of the backlash was expected, claiming that “I’m not an idiot.”Although this hat fiasco will probably maintain a divide in the community, I think we can all agree that this whole thing comes down to just a simple, stupid decision.
All said and done, this apology is likely one of the better ones, especially considering that half of the developer apologies nowadays are issued when theyfire half their workforce. However, that isn’t the end of the controversy, as there’s more to unpack beyond political speculation withSplitgate 2.
Hypocrisy Debate Behind Splitgate 2
The one thing that caught many of our eyes during Proulx’s presentation during Summer Game Fest, besides the hat, was his conviction that Splitgate 2 was created with the expectation of fixing what has gone wrong with modernmultiplayer FPS games.
In the presentation, he reminisces about growing up on Halo and being upset with the disappointing state of yearlyCall of Dutyreleases. More importantly, he referencesTitanfall 3, a follow-up many in the FPS genre have begged for, but was sadly never released.
Something many fans have pointed out is that in the same presentation, Proulx announced the brand-newbattle royale game modeforSplitgate 2.And if you’re a fan of Titanfall, you’d connect the dots that the battle royale gameApex Legendsis exactly one of the things thatkilled off any chanceat a Titanfall 3.
The hypocrisy goes a bit further, though, as despite claimingSplitgate 2is trying to bring life back into the FPS genre, going against the heavy hitters in the industry, it still includes an in-game cash shop with some bundles pricedas high as $40-$80.
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These major publishers have one last shot at dethroning Activision.
In a follow-uppost on Reddit, which includes the promise of a later AMA, Ian Proulx has answered the question of whySplitgate 2has a battle royale. Put simply, he claims that “our vision has always been to create an arena shooter BR hybrid.”
The thing is, having playedSplitgate 2and its battle royale, they both feel and play perfectly fine, but I still find the hypocrisy of many of the developers' actions quite uncertain. Between the situation with the hat, the poor monetization, and the inclusion of a battle royale, many of us find the “Make FPS Great Again” scheme a bit ironic.
In every apology and response Proulx has given regarding the hat, he has maintained that it’s their goal to build an FPS game better than any other. But claiming your love forTitanfalland Call of Duty, while including the same systems thatdestroyed those same franchises, is pretty odd.
With luck, Splitgate 2 will be able to return to glory after this fiasco.Regardless of any controversy,Halowith portals is always going to be cool, so let’s just see if Proulx and his team can pull their weight to the finish line after this rocky start.
