All articles tagged with #highguard
Industry analysis argues that live-service games are treated as instant-profit investments, with Highguard’s swift demise after a Tencent-backed launch despite 2 million players; Marathon offers promise but profitability remains uncertain, underscoring a broader pattern where investor pressure and the time-to-kill metric drive whether a game survives or fails.
Wildlight Entertainment, the studio behind the shooter Highguard, appears likely to close after a rocky launch that saw concurrent players crater and Tencent withdraw funding; the studio’s website and LinkedIn vanished, servers shut down on March 12, and co-founder Chad Grenier indicated there may be no future for Wildlight, suggesting the company is winding down after founding in 2021.
Wildlight Entertainment is reportedly issuing PS5 refunds for Highguard as the studio shutters its doors, with Sony emails indicating money spent on the game's battle pass and skins is being returned; it’s unclear if refunds extend to other platforms or all players, and the game’s brief run came after layoffs and a rushed launch that may have spurred funding concerns and the studio’s eventual disappearance.
Highguard, a free-to-play multiplayer shooter from Wildlight Entertainment, has been delisted on PS5 and shut down just 45 days after its January 26 launch, with the studio citing a lack of sustained player interest in the brutal live-service market.
Former Naughty Dog artist Del Walker reveals Condor from Highguard and says he will continue making games but won’t work on live-service titles, citing Highguard’s shutdown and his commitment to keep featuring diverse Black women in games.
The Highguard technical artist Josh Sobel returned to X/Twitter after a month offline to apologise for a misdirected outburst about Highguard’s troubled launch, saying his comments were driven by stress and sleepless nights and not his true intent. Wildlight Entertainment’s hero shooter faced design missteps and online vitriol and is set to disappear within weeks of launch, with a final content patch released as the studio winds down.
Wildlight’s Highguard is shutting down after a brief run; developer Josh Sobel reactivated his X account and apologized for a now-deleted post that blamed gamer culture for the game’s reception, calling it a stress-fueled misstep while acknowledging toxic discourse helped shape the climate. The game launched Jan 26, 2026 and went offline Mar 12, 2026 after drawing roughly 1.5 million players in its opening period, with a peak around 100,000 concurrent players. Sobel says he values the online connections he made and has set his replies to followers-only.
Wildlight’s remaining staff pushed Highguard’s largest update just days before servers go offline, adding an XP-based progression, a new skill tree, a tank hero Koldo, and the Switchback rifle, as the studio braces layoffs and online backlash.
Wildlight Entertainment’s free-to-play hero shooter Highguard will permanently shut down, with servers halting on March 12, just weeks after its January release. The studio, whose team includes veterans from Call of Duty, Apex Legends and Titanfall, laid off staff two weeks after launch as player numbers dwindled—from near 100k PC players and 380k Twitch viewers at launch to a fraction of that later—leading to the decision despite prior plans for a year’s worth of updates. The developers thanked players and invited one final round of matches before the shutdown.
Wildlight will permanently shut down the free-to-play hero shooter Highguard on March 12 after failing to build a sustainable player base and revenue, despite more than two million players since launch. A final patch will add a new Warden, weapon, account level progression, and skill trees before servers go offline.
Wildlight Studios' live-service shooter Highguard is shutting down on March 12, just 46 days after its January launch. The final update will add a new character, weapon, and updated skill trees as the team winds down. Wildlight attributed the closure to an unsustainable player base and funding challenges after Tencent pulled support, noting more than two million players had tried the game and that servers will remain online until the shutdown date.
Wildlight's free-to-play squad shooter Highguard will shut down permanently on March 12, 2026, after a short launch period that drew about 2 million players; before it ends, it will get a final update with a new character and weapon, underscoring the tough economics of sustaining live-service games.
A former Highguard level designer argues the game’s heavy emphasis on a competitive 3v3 mode and its complex rule set created a high entry barrier, contributing to onboarding and retention problems as casual players struggled to adapt. He contrasts this with Apex Legends’ easier onboarding and notes that the decision to lean into 3v3 increased team reliance and skill requirements. The situation was exacerbated by Tencent pulling funding after launch and layoffs at Wildlight, leaving a small core team and underscoring the project’s fragile footing despite ambitious design.
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.