After launching with little to no advertising since its reveal at The Game Awards, releasing a roadmap, and pulling in over 97,000 players on day one, Highguard is already facing layoffs following a lackluster launch. In a move many had predicted, developer Wildlight has reportedly begun laying off staff, according to a former employee.
The Decline of Highguard
According to a LinkedIn post, Wildlight has begun layoffs after Highguard failed to retain its player base. Unfortunately, this outcome didn’t come as a surprise to many players, even before launch.
Much of the criticism stems from the Game Awards reveal. Highguard did not pay for a finale slot and followed its global announcement with virtually no marketing or advertising push. After that initial spotlight, the game seemingly disappeared from the public conversation.
Because of this lack of follow-up engagement, many suspected Highguard would meet a similar fate to games like Concord. Even on launch day, thousands of players voiced concerns. While some praised the game’s core ideas and premise, many described it as underbaked in its current state. Others pointed to the massive reveal followed by radio silence as the game’s biggest killer.
Will the Roadmap Save Highguard?
At launch, Wildlight also announced a 2026 roadmap for Highguard, promising new characters, maps, and weapons. However, the future remains uncertain. In his LinkedIn post, Alex Graner shared:
“This one really stings as there was a lot of unreleased content I was really looking forward to that I and others designed for Highguard.”
At the end of the day, games shouldn’t suffer—or see their teams immediately cut—so soon after launch. As of the time of writing, Highguard is still online, but it’s unclear how long that will last.
For more news and updates, keep an eye on our Other Games section.
