Splitgate 2 launched on June 6, 2025, but it quickly became clear that things weren’t going as planned for 1047 Games. Despite a hefty influencer marketing budget, the game struggled with mixed reactions and falling player counts. The recent analysis of the $409,000 spent on influencers reveals some pretty glaring missteps that might explain why the talk didn’t catch on.
The game’s CEO, Ian Proulx, faced backlash at Summer Game Fest, which only added fuel to the fire after the launch revealed some eyebrow-raising microtransactions. After a promising start, including a well-attended event at Gamescom 2024, the momentum seemed to stall.
A Closer Look at the Influencer Campaign
Nick Lombardi, co-founder of Streamforge, dissected the marketing efforts on LinkedIn, pointing out how the influencer budget was split and where it fell flat. The majority — a whopping 83.6%, went to Twitch, but that platform only delivered less than 20% of the total views. Meanwhile, YouTube videos got nearly 13% of the budget, and Shorts grabbed 3.4%, even though Shorts pulled in almost 5 million views. TikTok, despite generating over 7 million organic views, received zero funding. Seriously, how do you miss TikTok these days?
Lombardi called the low returns “surprising” and suspects that the game’s mixed reception played a big role in creators not being all-in. Instead of sparking excitement, the campaign struggled to get influencers genuinely hyped, which means the $408k spent might not have moved the needle much.
Things got worse when layoffs hit 1047 Games just weeks after launch, and the co-founders gave up their salaries. That’s a pretty clear sign that marketing alone couldn’t fix the bigger problems, namely, a product that didn’t quite connect with its audience and messaging that felt off.
“No amount of influencer marketing can compensate for poor product-market fit and tone-deaf messaging,” Lombardi wrote. “The campaign’s technical execution was solid, but it was ultimately marketing a product that had alienated its core audience in pursuit of mainstream appeal.”
That’s a tough pill to swallow. You can throw money at influencers, but if the game itself doesn’t resonate, the hype fizzles fast.
