We're excited to announce our first public playtest since returning back to beta and back to our roots. During the August playtest, you'll get hands-on access to experience some changes we've been working on based on your feedback.
Playtest Details
The August playtest will take place on Steam only, but will be fully streamable for all players to watch and provide feedback. The August playtest introduces brand new overhauls to gameplay systems and work-in-progress changes to UI/UX, so players may encounter bugs and unfinished UI screens. We want to make sure to get feedback early into the exploration of these changes.
Dates:
Friday, August 29 from 3-6PM Pacific Time
Saturday, August 30 from 10-1PM Pacific Time
Platforms: Steam
Application: Splitgate 2 Beta
Branch: aug-playtest
The aug-playtest branch will be available to download later this week. To access the aug-playtest branch on Steam, please follow these instructions:
Open Steam and go to your Library.
Find Splitgate 2 Beta in your game list.
Right-click the game → select Properties.
In the left menu, click Betas.
In the dropdown “Select the beta you would like to opt into”, choose aug-playtest.
Close the window. Steam will automatically download/update the game.
Once finished, click Play to launch the beta branch.
Reminder: The build won’t be available until Thursday.
The Splitgate Way, Back to our Roots
We're returning to the approach that made Splitgate 1 successful: constant iteration with community feedback. We launched the original Splitgate in 2019 with a small but strong community, and spent two years iterating based on input until it became the breakout hit we all love. Community feedback and support is what guided the development of the original Splitgate, and this is how we want to relaunch Splitgate 2.
These playtests are about getting your feedback, ensuring our changes align with what our community wants, and keeping us on the right track. We are headed back to our feedback-driven and community-first roots, and are excited to invite you to join us in this first public playtest.
Major Changes Coming to the Playtest
Rethinking Factions
Factions were originally designed to create variety in how players approached combat. Each one offered unique tools, perks, and abilities that were meant to keep every match feeling fresh and give players a chance to find their preferred style.
As we got this system into your hands, we realized that these restrictions were creating more rigidity than freedom. Players have found themselves locked out of the weapons, equipment and perks they enjoyed most because they belonged to different factions. The result was more frustration and less flexibility in playstyles.
For this playtest, factions have been removed while we test a new approach to loadouts.
Here is what you’ll will see during the playtest on this weekend:
Weapon and equipment restrictions have been lifted. You can now mix and match freely between weapons and equipment.
Perks have been reworked. Redundant options have been removed so that each remaining perk has a stronger identity.
Additionally, a third perk slot has been added. With each slot containing unique perks, you will have more ways to shape your loadout around the way you want to play.
We believe this direction is a big step toward giving players more freedom, and this test will give us the chance to validate that belief with your help.
Removing Abilities
Faction Abilities (Hypersight, Rush, and Smart Wall) have been a point of debate since the beginning of Splitgate 2. They were intended to add flavor and tactical variety to fights. Sometimes they succeed in that goal, but more often they cause frustration. They also tend to shift focus away from what makes Splitgate unique: precision gunplay, creative portal movement, and strong map control.
In this playtest, abilities have been removed so we can refocus on the foundation of the game. Our goal is to test the sandbox without them and learn whether leaning into gunplay and portals creates the experience that feels most true to Splitgate.
Expanded Portal Opportunities
We've gone through five of our arenas and added new portal walls to change how these maps play. During the test, you will get your first look at changes to: Academy, Core, Eden, Frontier, and Grit.
These updates are not massive visual overhauls. They are targeted adjustments that aim to improve flow, open up sightlines, and create more opportunities for portal creativity. We will be watching closely to see how these changes play out in live matches and whether they move us closer to the type of dynamic portal play we want the game to deliver.
Big Changes Coming to Splitball
For this playtest, we're testing the removal of portaling while carrying the Splitball. Previously, portaling with the Splitball allowed scoring within seconds on maps like Stadium and Zenith, which was a frustrating experience for many players.
In our internal testing, preventing portaling with the ball has created a much more team-based experience focused on protecting the runner, rather than incentivizing solo heroics, so now we're putting it in your hands to let us know what you think.
Adjusting Time-to-Kill for Better Engagements
Splitgate's portal mechanics allow for changing battle fronts and flanking from virtually any direction, but with a fast TTK it was very difficult to react to surprise flanks. This often results in the feeling that whoever landed the first shot wins the engagement.
We're testing an approximately 20% longer time-to-kill to address the "first shot wins" problem.
This may sound like a lot, but in our testing it gives combatants just slightly more time to react and turn the tide of battle through better accuracy and positioning, creating more meaningful gunfights.
We’ve Reworked Weapon Recoil
Automatic weapons now feature upward-only recoil patterns (no more erratic up-down bouncing)
Slightly reduced recoil across all weapons
Every weapon received individual tuning passes for better feel
The old recoil system was notoriously jumpy. We didn't fully realize how annoying it was until we fixed it. There are a lot of little things we will be testing and optimizing in the upcoming playtests, and we feel like this change is an amazing start.
Return of Fan-Favorite Arena Modes
Based on overwhelming feedback requesting a more traditional Splitgate arena experience, we're refocusing around fan-favorite modes like King of the Hill, Domination, and Team Deathmatch.
Round-based modes like Splitball will remain a part of the Splitgate 2’s offerings, but our core experience will push toward these faster, no-rounds arena modes that resonate most with our players.
With that, we are excited to announce that coming with the full relaunch (not in this playtest) is the highly requested playlist selection filter. Which will allow you to choose exactly which modes you want to play!
We Want Your Feedback
The best place to leave feedback is Splitgate’s BetaHub. BetaHub is a consolidated feedback platform where our developers and QA teams are most active. To stay up-to-date on all things Splitgate-related, please follow our Discord, or share thoughts on Reddit or X/Twitter. We'll be sending out surveys after the playtest to help us refine these changes as we work toward relaunch.
We're committed to transparency throughout this process, and August’s playtest represents a major step toward the Splitgate experience you've been asking for.
We’re so excited to hear your thoughts. See you in the arena!