Splitgate has gone from "cult favorite" to "smash hit" in record time — and the game hasn't even had a full release yet. This competitive first-person shooter, best described as "Halo meets Portal" has earned 10 million downloads in less than 30 days, which is pretty impressive for an indie game with only a few dozen employees on staff.
On the other hand, Splitgate's massive success has created some friction as well. The game will now be in beta indefinitely as developer 1047 Games adjusts to a player base of millions rather than thousands. That's bad news for gamers who want a full release ASAP, but good news for those who are content to keep honing their skills on a product that's still in development.
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Read on to learn some pertinent information about Splitgate, including how to download the game, how to play with people on other consoles and how to advance through the ranks.
Splitgate ranks
For those who haven't played Splitgate yet, the concept is simple. This free-to-play game is a competitive multiplayer FPS, which pits two teams of four players against each other.
The twist is that while players have a standard array of sci-fi weaponry, they can also create portals that transport them instantly across the battlefield. This opens up all sorts of possibilities for ambushes and counterattacks, and makes traversal much faster than in similar games.
While you can experience most of Splitgate's content by playing casual matches, you can also compete in ranked multiplayer, if that's your thing. The game offers seven different ranks, depending on how many points you've earned:
- Bronze (0 to 1,499 points)
- Silver (1,500 to 1,999 points)
- Gold (2,000 to 2,499 points)
- Platinum (2,500 to 2,999 points)
- Diamond (3,000 to 3,499 points)
- Master (3,500 to 3,999 points)
- Champion (more than 4,000 points)
You earn or lose points for each match, depending on how well you play and whether your team emerged victorious. There's no special trick to climbing the ranks; you simply have to win more matches than you lose, and improve your skills over time.
Splitgate crossplay
Here's some good news for Splitgate fans: you can play with your friends, regardless of which platform you choose. The game is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Better still: The feature is enabled by default.
If you want to turn crossplay off, you can do so by going into the settings menu and unchecking the relevant box in the Privacy tab. For what it's worth, though, crossplay seems to work very smoothly so far, and it will probably only improve as development continues. Your call.
Splitgate release date
Splitgate's release date is an interesting question, as it technically has three. The game debuted in early access on May 24, 2019 on Steam. It's been available on PCs and Linux ever since. However, Splitgate's popularity didn't explode until it came out on consoles (still in early access) on July 27, 2021.
As for when the game will receive a full release, it's impossible to say. Since Splitgate will now have to support a much larger community than the devs initially intended, they haven't given a solid date yet. On the other hand, it seems like the game will be available and free to play until then, so anyone who wants to play Splitgate should be able to do so.
Splitgate download
If you want to play Splitgate, it's extremely easy to do so. You'll need a PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S and a stable Internet connection; that's really it. On Windows or Linux, you can get Splitgate on Steam; on PlayStation, you can get Splitgate on the PlayStation Store; on Xbox, you can get Splitgate on the Microsoft Store. The game is free-to-play, so you won't need to dish out any money.
Tom's Guide will continue to cover Splitgate as the game works its way toward a full release — whenever that may be.
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