Highguard is permanently shutting down on March 12, 2026, following a series of unfortunate setbacks. Developer Wildlight Entertainment will release one final patch before the game sunsets, along with a developer insight addressing the reasons behind its failure.
Highguard Shutting Down 3 Months After The Game Awards Reveal
The Purported Next-Gen Raid-Shooter Lasted for a Month
Highguard developers, Wildlight Entertainment, announced that their controversial raid shooter will finally shut down on March 12, 2026. The news was shared through the game’s official social media channels, particularly X (formerly Twitter). The studio thanked its loyal fans who believed in what the studio was building.
While the announcement was not attributed to any specific individual, the developers did share a reason for the game’s closure. Wildlight Entertainment stated that despite its best efforts, it "has not been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term."
Since its polarizing reveal at last year’s The Game Awards three months ago, Highguard was met with widespread skepticism, particularly over its lukewarm attempt to reinvent the hero-shooter genre and its bizarre marketing silence just days before launch.
In response to launch concerns, the developers introduced a permanent 5v5 modeto replace its standard 3v3 format. Weeks later, they overhauled the raid-shooter mechanics, completely removing the looting and raiding elements and shifting the experience into a more straightforward first-person shooter. Unfortunately, these changes were not enough to revive interest. The game now averages fewer than 300 daily active players on Steam, with no clear signs of recovery.
According to the studio, more than 2 million players tried the game at launch. However, its active users quickly declined amid concerns about its gameplay loop and questionable game modes. On Steam alone, the game peaked at nearly 100,000 concurrent players before gradually falling to the low hundreds, potentially caused by the studio's significant layoffs a week after launch.
Before the game officially shuts down next week, Wildlight Entertainment will release one final update. While the developers did not share specific details, they confirmed that the patch will introduce one last Warden, a new weapon, account-level progression, and, in a final Hail Mary effort, skill trees, a feature that was absent from the base game.
The final patch will go live sometime "tonight or tomorrow morning," according to the studio.
Ex-Highguard Dev Details Game’s Failure
Just three days before the game’s official shutdown announcement, former Highguard senior-level designer Alex Graner shared his experience with the raid-shooter’s struggles during an episode of the Quad Damage Podcast, speculating that the game failed because "it leaned too far into the competitive scene."
Graner explained that the 3v3 mode felt overly "sweaty" for casual players, leaving little room for newcomers to ease into the experience without frustration. He added that "because it was 3v3, that kind of game just requires high-skill movement and shooting, which is already a pretty high [bar for] entry as well."
Compared to other shooters on the market, such as Call of Duty, Battlefield 6, and the upcoming Marathon, these titles generally feature a lower skill floor, allowing casual players to jump in without major issues. Highguard, on the other hand, took the opposite approach, encouraging hardcore play and punishing even the average players for not hitting their shots. Looking back, Graner admitted that his biggest fear about the game’s direction ultimately became a reality.
Now, Highguard stands at the precipice of being delisted from all major storefronts following its March 12 shutdown. Like Concord from Firewalk Studios, it serves as yet another example of a video game that failed to keep pace with the industry’s increasingly volatile market.
Source:
Official Shutdown Announcement from Highguard X Page
Former Highguard Dev Talks About Game’s Failure
