You remember the first time you zipped through a portal in the original Splitgate and nailed a headshot from a completely different zip code? It felt like magic. But let's be real—the sequel has had a bit of a wild ride lately. After a series of playtests and a somewhat polarizing initial launch, 1047 Games did something you don't see often in the triple-A space: they "unlaunched" the game to fix it.
Now, we’re looking at the Splitgate 2 open alpha—specifically the version that paved the way for the massive Splitgate: Arena Reloaded overhaul. This isn't just a tiny patch. It’s a fundamental structural shift in how the game plays, moving away from some of the hero-shooter elements that fans were worried about and doubling down on the "Halo-with-portals" DNA that made the first game a sleeper hit.
The biggest thing you've gotta understand about the recent alpha phases is the scale. We aren't just talking 4v4 in tight corridors anymore.
The 8v8v8 Chaos Most People Missed
The Splitgate 2 open alpha introduced something called Multi-Team Portal Warfare. It sounds like a mouthful, but basically, it's three teams of eight players clashing at once. Imagine the typical "Big Team Battle" energy from Halo, then throw in a third team and the ability to put a portal behind almost anyone.
It’s absolute carnage.
Specifically, the map Glacier was the star of this show. According to Ian Proulx, the CEO of 1047 Games, Glacier is roughly 20 times larger than the standard arena maps. When you're playing 24-player Domination or Hotzone on a map that big, the strategy shifts. You can’t just camp one portal; you have to coordinate with your squad to leapfrog across massive icy gaps.
Honestly, the most surprising part was how well the engine handled it. Usually, when you add more players and more portals (which are basically just extra cameras the game has to render), performance tanked in the early builds. But the alpha proved that the move to Unreal Engine 5 was worth the growing pains.
Factions vs. Classic Starts: The Great Debate
One of the most controversial parts of the early Splitgate 2 open alpha was the faction system. You had:
- Aeros: The speed demons. Faster reloads, faster sprinting, and the "Porta-Portal" gadget that lets you place a portal anywhere.
- Meridian: The "big brain" class. They could see through walls and heal teammates.
- Sabrask: The tanky ones. They had a defensive wall and focused more on gunplay than crazy movement.
A lot of the "Splitfam" (as the devs call the community) felt this moved too far into Overwatch or Valorant territory. They wanted the "even starts" of the original.
Guess what? The devs actually listened.
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In the latest iterations stemming from the alpha feedback, they introduced Classic Arena. This mode strips away the faction-specific abilities and gives everyone the same kit. It’s a massive win for the competitive purists who just want to outplay people with movement and aim rather than a "Press Q to Win" button.
Weapons and the Return of the BFB
Let’s talk guns. The alpha brought the weapon count up to 24. We saw new toys like the Sabrask Goliath (a heavy-hitting revolver) and the Meridian Phasma (a high-tech SMG). But the real king is the return of the BFB.
If you haven't used the BFB, it stands for Big Fat Bat. It’s a neon-soaked club that tracks enemies and results in some of the most satisfying "clink" sounds in gaming history.
One nuance people missed in the Splitgate 2 open alpha was the adjustment to the Time to Kill (TTK). It’s about 20% slower than the first game. This sounds like a bad thing, but in practice, it means you actually have a chance to react when someone portals behind you. You can turn, slide, and maybe even portal away before you’re deleted. It makes the "outplay" potential much higher.
How to Actually Get In Right Now
If you're looking for the current status of the Splitgate 2 open alpha, here's the deal: The game has largely transitioned into its Arena Reloaded phase. The official open beta for the reworked version launched in late 2025, leading into the 2026 full release.
- Check Steam or your Console Store: Search for Splitgate: Arena Reloaded. That is the evolved version of the Splitgate 2 project.
- No Key Needed: Unlike the closed alphas from early 2025, the current builds are free-to-play for everyone.
- Crossplay is Default: You can play with your buddies on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC right out of the box.
The most important thing to do is hop into the "The Lab" map editor. One of the biggest mistakes other shooters made (looking at you, Halo Infinite) was launching without a way for the community to make maps. 1047 Games didn't make that mistake. The "Infinite Maps" feature teased during the alpha is now a reality, and some of the community-made portal parks are already better than the dev maps.
If you’re serious about getting good, stop trying to play it like Call of Duty. Start practicing "triple portaling"—the art of placing a new portal while flying through your current ones. It’s the difference between being a target and being a ghost.
Jump into the Splitgate 2 open alpha (or the Reloaded version it became) and focus on the Aeros movement mechanics first. Even if you prefer the classic mode, learning how the new slide-physics interact with portal momentum is the only way you're going to survive the 24-player chaos on Glacier. Download it, hit the firing range, and get those portal placements into muscle memory before you step into a match.