The co-founder and current CEO of 1047 Games, Ian Proulx issued an apology following him wearing a ‘’Make FPS Great Again’’ hat during Summer Games Fest. The product that was being promoted during Summer Games Fest was Splitgate 2, and the launch of Splitgate: Battle Royale. In the apology, Proulx explained that during these gaming events, it is very difficult to grab the majority of the attention compared to the other gaming developers and publishers, as everyone is releasing high quality trailers for their games.

No excuses, I’m sorry. pic.twitter.com/4dgOxrSXUJ

— Splitgate 2 (@Splitgate) June 10, 2025

Proulx said that creating a ‘’Make FPS Great Again’’ hat was the solution he and the team came up with. Proulx went on to say that he did not in any way want the hat to be taken as a political statement, but rather as a pop-culture, or meme reference to get their actual intentions out to the public, which is to improve the FPS game genre. Adding to this, Proulx reiterated that the intention of wanting to improve FPS games was something he still stood by, and that FPS games need to be improved from its current state. Proulx made sure though, to reiterate that he understands the negative impact and division that was caused by him and the team’s decision.

For those who may not know, Splitgate 2 is a free-to-play shooter, and is available to play on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and PC. The game is not just developed by 1047 Games, but also published by them as well. 1047 Games describes the game saying: ‘’Splitgate 2 is the only free-to-play shooter with portals, delivering next-level gunplay, fluid movement, and a constantly evolving experience, featuring a new Battle Royale where you can portal between unique worlds’’. Splitgate 2 was released May 22, 2025, and the Splitgate: Battle Royale portion was released during Summer Games Fest.