It is Clear Why It Took Highguard 20 Hours To Lose 90% Of Its Gamers

Wildlight Leisure shaped in 2022 and has been engaged on its first AAA sport for years. The writer’s workforce contains builders from video games like “Titanfall” and “Apex Legends,” so followers spent years anticipating the studio’s top-secret debut title. However after getting a have a look at the free-to-play “Highguard” proper on the finish of the 2025 Sport Awards, some avid gamers thought Wildlight was about to provide us the following “Harmony” catastrophe.

It seems that “Highguard” was meant to be a shadow drop like “Apex Legends,” however that plan modified on the final minute when Sport Awards government producer and host Geoff Keighley approached Wildlight earlier than the 2025 occasion. The workforce hurried to place a trailer collectively, however the end result did not go away avid gamers impressed. As a substitute of creating an excuse for the flop, Wildlight cofounder Chad Grenier owned as much as the error in an interview with Kotaku, saying, “I want the reception had been higher, however in hindsight we made a trailer to entertain actually shortly, and did not present the gameplay loop, and what’s completely different and distinctive.” The studio later gave followers a extra in-depth have a look at the sport and hoped that when “Highguard” launched, gamers would see what made it so particular.

On launch day, tens of 1000’s opted to take a look at what “Highguard” needed to supply, however the overwhelming majority of them deserted the sport shortly. The sport’s concurrent participant rely on Steam, which peaked at slightly below 100,000, has already plunged 90%, and person evaluations throughout platforms aren’t wanting good. It is apparent that “Highguard” has some severe points that must be addressed.

Not lengthy after its launch, “Highguard” was battered by largely adverse evaluations on Steam. The complaints concerning the sport from PC gamers ran alongside comparable strains because the criticisms from avid gamers on Xbox and PlayStation 5. As is usually the case with multiplatform releases, although, “Highguard” has run into some specific efficiency points on PC.

Critiques on Steam have known as out the sport’s poor optimization and say that it struggles to truly make use of their PC {hardware}. Some gamers say that even with hyper-modern {hardware} working the sport at its most settings, they can not get “Highguard” to run at 90 frames per second. Others are coping with enter lag that makes the sport troublesome to play. Worst of all are the bugs that some gamers have skilled which forestall them from loading into the sport in any respect. 

Gamers do not wish to must tweak their very own computer systems to get a sport to run correctly, so a few of them are merely washing their palms of “Highguard” and strolling away after they encounter these issues.

Robust mechanics are what actually matter in a sport, however graphics are what most gamers are going to note first. Sadly for “Highguard,” many Day 1 gamers weren’t all that impressed by what they noticed. Efficiency points brought on some PC gamers to expertise subpar graphics, however even when the sport was working as meant, there have been visible issues bothering gamers. 

Complaints concerning the sport’s motion-blur results, which might’t be toggled off, are rampant in “Highguard” evaluations. Avid gamers nearly universally agree that the blur is simply too sturdy and makes your entire sport look fuzzy and out of focus. However gamers aren’t simply bothered by minor results like movement blur. Loads of them simply did not like the sport’s strategy to graphics in any respect. One Xbox participant wrote in a evaluate that their “Highguard” expertise “felt like I used to be enjoying ‘Black Desert’ again in 2022.” 

Different gamers have gone to the web to assault the sport’s total fantasy/sci-fi artwork course, and so they did not mince phrases. “The sport’s artwork course is a travesty, and nowhere close to its competitors’s stage,” wrote one Redditor, calling consideration to different free-to-play shooters like “Apex Legends” as a comparability. The web appears extra-enthusiastic about attacking the visuals of “Highguard,” however there is not any denying that the sport has did not impress gamers on that entrance.

Gamers can discover a option to get previous underwhelming visuals, and builders can restore bugs and efficiency issues, however the core sport mechanics are tougher to repair. To its credit score, “Highguard” tries to remix mechanics from different well-liked free-to-play titles, and has a singular strategy. The sport has useful resource gathering and mount mechanics like 2024’s shock hit, “Palworld,” but it surely additionally mixes in hero shooter mechanics and “Apex Legends”-style gunplay in its 3-v-3 Raid Mode gameplay.

For some gamers the remix strategy the sport takes with its mechanics falls solely flat. “Nothing clicks, they’ve poached a bunch of techniques from video games that work effectively inside these video games however when shoved collectively simply do not make a lot sense in any respect,” wrote one participant in a evaluate on Steam. At instances “Highguard” feels prefer it’s making an attempt to be a number of video games without delay, and gamers do not assume it is working.

There’s one particular gameplay challenge that retains arising in adverse participant evaluations throughout all platforms. Folks do not love that “Highguard” is just 3-v-3. Gamers need to have the ability to be in a workforce with extra of their pals, and so they say the sport’s maps are too huge for the small workforce battles that “Highguard” at the moment has on supply. The massive maps massively decelerate the sport, making it more durable to get to the elements of “Highguard” which can be truly pleasant.

“Highguard” is off to a rocky begin. Free-to-play video games stay or die based mostly on the dimensions of their playerbase, and the aggressive multiplayer area is very aggressive. Comparable video games misplaced their complete playerbase in 2025 as a result of they could not minimize it. Proper now it looks like avid gamers usually tend to bounce off “Highguard” than stick round, however the sport’s launch has been so tough that extra folks than ever are literally beginning to concentrate to it.

If some avid gamers resolve to take a look at what the fuss is about for themselves, there’s an opportunity they will see among the good in “Highguard” beneath its flaws. Online game reviewers have been considerably impressed: Polygon praised the sport, and in its pre-release evaluate, IGN stated that the sport “had polished gunplay, a compelling roster of characters, and a trailblazing sport mode that serves as its killer function.”

Some real-life gamers have been having fun with “Highguard” too. Whereas many are bothered by the small workforce measurement, they’re discovering the precise fight within the sport to be fairly enjoyable. Gamers have additionally praised the gunplay in “Highguard” and actually benefit from the mount system. “You possibly can trip a bear into battle. Do not learn about y’all however that is a promoting level for me,” wrote one Redditor. Wildlight Leisure has revealed an in depth roadmap for the sport’s future, and if the studio addresses among the considerations gamers have expressed, “Highguard” may have the ability to discover its footing.