The ‘Empulse’ demo is now live as part of Steam Next Fest, letting players try 1047 Games’ Titanfall-inspired shooter for free from Monday, 15 June 2026, ahead of its early access launch.
Empulse comes from 1047 Games, the studio behind the free-to-play hit Splitgate, and it leans hard into the fast, vertical combat that defined Titanfall 2, as reported by GameSpot.
The demo opened to coincide with the June 2026 edition of Steam Next Fest, Valve’s recurring showcase of upcoming games.
What the Empulse demo includes
The Empulse demo drops players into a 6v6 arena set in the post-utopian streets of Freehold, where wall-running, grappling hooks, Holojumps and P.A.I.N.T. bombs shape every fight.
The headline draw is the player-controllable mech, which becomes the most contested objective on the map during a match.
Matches reward constant motion, with players chaining wall-runs and grapples to reach the mech bay before the enemy team. Downing the mech, rather than racking up kills, is what swings a round, which pushes squads to coordinate pushes instead of hunting picks in isolation.
Where Titanfall 2 relied on aim-down-sights gunplay, Empulse pulls its shooting closer to the hip-fire, arcade feel of Splitgate. The movement and grappling, though, are pure Titanfall, which is exactly the itch a generation of lapsed pilots has been waiting years for a new game to scratch.
Empulse early access date and price
After the demo, Empulse moves into early access on Steam on Wednesday, 24 June 2026, priced at $19.99 for the PC version.
The game will arrive on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S on the same day, putting it in front of console and PC players at once.
Launching straight into early access is a familiar 1047 Games play, the same route that turned Splitgate from a student project into a multi-million-player shooter.
The studio is betting that an open, free demo plus a low entry price can build a competitive community fast.
Why Titanfall fans are watching Empulse
Titanfall 2 has held cult status since Respawn Entertainment wound down support, leaving a movement-shooter gap no major studio filled. Empulse is the most credible attempt yet to revive that formula, and the free demo lets sceptical fans test whether 1047 Games has captured the feel before paying in.
The Empulse demo runs through the Steam Next Fest window, so player feedback over the coming days will shape any last tweaks before launch.
The real test comes on 24 June 2026, when 1047 Games has to prove the servers and the player base can hold up at release.
