All articles tagged with #highguard
Kotaku reports that Highguard began as a Rust-inspired survival shooter, later pivoted to a 3v3 raid shooter with heavy looting; funding dried up and a stealthy Game Awards reveal backfired, leading to mass layoffs shortly after launch, with developers blaming hubris for resisting early pivots amid a crowded multiplayer market and funding ties to Tencent.
A Bloomberg report cites former Wildlight staff blaming Highguard’s failure on leadership hubris after Apex Legends’ success, funding pressures tied to performance metrics, and a rushed, secret launch; the project was scaled back from an overambitious scope, testing suggested it required voice chat, and management avoided community testing; mid-February layoffs left fewer than 20 developers, threatening the live-service plan, even as a new mode released.
Wildlight Entertainment releases a patch for Highguard adding a new Cloudbreach map, a Lockpick item to seize doors during raids, and Moonbruin mounts, while the devs tease a next-week raid-focused game mode and ongoing weapon balance and store updates.
Wildlight’s PvP shooter Highguard releases a new content patch (airship base, lockpick raid, Moonbruin mount) while the game’s website remains offline. Despite layoffs and a troubled launch, developers say the outage is a 'low priority' reputational issue and that a core team will continue to support updates and content.
Wildlight Entertainment says Highguard’s site is down to be transferred and simplified, a low-priority task for a lean team focused on delivering updates after recent layoffs, with Tencent as an investor; the game remains playable but Steam numbers are weak and there’s no announced return date for the site.
After mass layoffs at Wildlight and a downed Highguard website, the game's future remains unclear, but remaining developers say they are focusing on updates and new content, with Episode 2 and the roadmap likely undergoing a major overhaul.
Highguard, a raid-shooter from Wildlight Entertainment, faces an uncertain future after layoffs and a site outage that sparked cancellation rumors; the game launched Jan 26 after The Game Awards 2025 trailer, drew over 1.5 million players in January with peaks around 97,000 concurrent players, but numbers have fallen as development continues with a leaner team and little official communication.
Kotaku reports that Wildlight Entertainment’s four-year development of the free-to-play shooter Highguard may have been backed primarily by Tencent’s TiMi, a relationship the studio has kept private. Following mass layoffs and a steep drop in concurrent PC players, questions swirl about Highguard’s future as Wildlight’s site goes offline and roadmap details remain unclear.
Kotaku reports that Wildlight Entertainment’s free-to-play raid shooter Highguard has its official site down, fueling speculation about the game’s future after a controversial launch, a steep early drop in Steam players, mixed updates, and subsequent layoffs at the studio.
A now-deleted post from Highguard's development team blaming gamers and content creators for launch issues sparked sharp backlash, with commentary from Shroud and Asmongold and reports of layoffs at Wildlight underscoring industry fatigue over how feedback is handled.
After Highguard's January launch, a laid-off developer blamed toxic online backlash for its struggles; he deleted his post and later his X account amid aggressive fan responses, while data show about 1.54 million players last month; the piece argues backlash likely hurt momentum but warns against witch-hunts of developers and defends the need for risk-taking in game development.
After Highguard's launch woes and mass layoffs at Wildlight following its Game Awards reveal, industry voices argue Geoff Keighley isn’t to blame for the game’s troubles, pointing to broader economic instability in the industry. Keighley defended giving Highguard exposure, while critics noted issues like the map size and early PC server problems; remaining Wildlight staff face uncertainty about delivering the 2026 content calendar amid the layoffs.
A former Wildlight developer recounts Highguard’s rocky launch after its Game Awards reveal, saying false assumptions about a large ad placement fueled immediate hate and massive review bombs. Despite post-launch patches and a permanent 5v5 mode, the studio announced layoffs including several co-founders, though a core group remains to continue development.
After patching and testing a limited-time 5v5 mode, Highguard has made the mode permanent as Steam reviews shift to Mixed and players gravitate toward a quicker, more frenetic experience; PC player counts are falling despite crossplay helping matchmaking, leaving the game's long-term future in flux but with a promising path if the mode sustains momentum.
Highguard’s launch was marred by immediate Steam review bombing, with ratings turning from extremely negative to mixed as players finally could judge the game; the piece argues the incident reveals flaws in Steam’s review system—especially for free‑to‑play titles—while noting a higher approval rate among players who played longer. It calls for reforms to curb manipulation, such as hours‑based gating or decoupling reviews from discoverability, suggesting Valve may need to update its system in response to this controversy.