Highguard

Highguard was a short-lived free-to-play multiplayer first-person shooter from Wildlight Entertainment, a studio led by veterans of Respawn-era shooters including Apex Legends and Titanfall. Revealed during The Game Awards 2025 and launched on January 26, 2026 for Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, it tried to avoid being another ordinary hero shooter by calling itself a PvP “raid shooter.” Its central match structure put two teams of three Wardens against each other on the continent of Highguard, where magical storms and the legendary Shieldbreaker framed the conflict.

A match was not simply team deathmatch. Each side began by defending and improving a base, then rode mounts into the map to gather resources, buy gear, and prepare a raid. The round’s pivotal objective was the Shieldbreaker, a sword used to breach the enemy stronghold. Victory came from breaking into the opposing base and destroying its core while protecting one’s own. That mixture of hero abilities, base building, mounted traversal, resource runs, and objective raiding was the game’s clearest identity. Wildlight said the idea grew partly from the excitement of raiding bases in Rust, compressed into a faster competitive format.

The launch generated unusual attention. Highguard reached roughly 97,000 to 100,000 concurrent players on Steam during its first day and Wildlight later said more than two million people had tried it across platforms. Yet the same launch also became notorious for poor Steam reception, rapid player loss, and confusion over whether the game’s many systems created depth or awkward pacing. Reviewers often noted the studio’s shooter craft in movement and gunplay while questioning the rhythm of the raid loop and the difficulty of selling another live-service PvP game.

Wildlight moved quickly, adding a 5v5 mode after launch and planning episodic post-release content, but the audience did not stabilize. In February 2026, reports of layoffs signaled trouble at the studio. On March 3, 2026, Wildlight announced that Highguard would permanently shut down on March 12 because it had not built a sustainable player base. A final update was promised with a new Warden, weapon, account progression, and skill trees. Highguard therefore became remembered less as a long-running fantasy shooter than as a highly visible example of how even experienced developers, a free price point, cross-platform release, and a strong launch spike could fail to sustain a modern live-service game within a crowded market with little room for hesitation, recovery, or time.