1047 Games has officially broken its silence, shifting gears away from its previous franchises to unveil its brand-new IP: EMPULSE. Fresh off a major gameplay reveal at the PC Gaming Show, this fast-paced 6v6 movement-heavy shooter is arriving on Steam much sooner than fans anticipated.
Described as a spiritual successor to beloved high-mobility shooters like Titanfall 2, EMPULSE blends hyper-vertical parkour mechanics with heavy-hitting mecha combat.
Titanfall 2 is one of my all-time favourite games, the campaign, the multiplayer. You name it.
If EMPULSE can capture the movement and and even a third of the chaotic fun, we might be in for a treat. And lets not forget how good a job they initially did with Splitgate. It felt like Halo in the best way, and the portals were wonderful. The studio have pedigree. Let’s just hope they’ve learned some lessons since the release of Splitgate 2.
Here’s all we know about EMPULSE.
Core gameplay pillars
Set in the vertical, post-utopian streets of a city called Freehold, EMPULSE puts kinetic flow and momentum at the absolute centre of its gunplay. Players will drop into matches as part of a “Crew,” utilising a broad toolkit of advanced physics mechanics to outmanoeuvre opponents.
- Movement Freedom: Players can fluidly chain together forward and backwards wallrunning, swing around corners using grappling hooks, and launch themselves into high-altitude angles with specialised “Holojumps.”
- The P.A.I.N.T. Mechanic: A unique environmental utility tool that allows players to physically alter map surfaces mid-match, generating tactical advantages and opening up entirely new traversal routes.
- Claiming the Mech: Matches aren’t just about infantry gunplay. Massive, player-controllable mechs will spawn dynamically onto the battlefield. Armed with heavy weaponry, enhanced abilities, and massive health pools, capturing a mech can completely swing the momentum of a firefight—meaning teams must coordinate seamlessly to either pilot them or bring them down.
It looks to me like we’ve got a game here, trying to mix a few things up and create a unique experience. Which is great! The P.A.I.N.T seems to borrow from Portal 2; the running backwards on walls feels like Lucio in Overwatch, too. The big tell in EMPULSE will be how effective and fun the mech is to control. With Titanfall, one of the core elements was the fact that you called in your own personal Titan. Will the attachment to a mech in the middle of an arena feel similar?
It feels like the closest we’re going to get to something new and like Titanfall, so I’ll temper my expectations. But we know 1047 are capable. Plus, we love fast-paced action games, so we’re staying optimistic.
Early Access timeline & pricing
Unlike previous multi-year development cycles, 1047 Games is moving aggressively fast to get the game into the hands of the community. Steam players will have multiple opportunities to jump into Freehold this month.
- Steam Next Fest Demo: 15th June 2026 – free public trial period.
- Official Early Access Launch: 24th June 2026 – Full Early Access launch with a $19.99 retail cost.
EMPULSE will feature full cross-platform multiplayer support at launch, releasing simultaneously on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. It also implements kernel-level anti-cheat to safeguard its competitive matchmaking integrity from day one.
There’s not long to wait at all. I’ll try to get a preview up from the 15th trial period, but we might wait to do a full review. It depends on how hectic things get.
1047 needs this win
The surprise announcement of EMPULSE follows a period of heavy community turbulence for 1047 Games. After past project fumbles, sudden developer silences, and severe public backlash over tone-deaf marketing and predatory monetisation bundles, player trust in the studio hit an all-time low.
By dropping the edgy franchise marketing tactics and delivering a fully realised, paid Early Access product rather than a heavily monetised “whale-hunting” free-to-play model, EMPULSE is 1047’s bid for redemption.
The studio recently hosted a Reddit AMA featuring CEO Ian Proulx and CTO Nicholas Bagamian to face the community directly, pivoting their focus entirely toward direct developer transparency.
For a studio that has struggled to sustain long-term player bases, letting the mechanical brilliance of fluid movement and giant robot combat speak for itself might be exactly how they make amends.
Time will tell if they’re able to turn the ship around. EMPULSE looks like a solid foundation to start again and build back a fanbase. So we’ll keep an eye out here and report back as soon as we know anything.
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