Highguard’s latest update fixes bugs and crashes, focusing on improving stability and performance. Check out the patch notes for version 1.0.4 of the game and what the developers think would have been better for the game’s debut.
Highguard First Major Patch Goes Live
Game Input and Video Settings Improvements
Highguard just launched its first major patch, addressing concerns regarding its settings and stability. On Twitter (X), developer Wildlight Entertainment released the patch notes for version 1.0.4 of the game on January 30.
The latest update prioritized player comfort by adding highly requested input options, most notably the ability to set Crouch to a toggle on all platforms and Aim Down Sights (ADS) to a toggle for PC players. Console users also received a significant visual update with the addition of an FoV slider that now scales to 110, managing common complaints on the game's initial narrow perspective.
In addition to control refinements, the patch also introduces deeper graphical customization for better performance stability. Players can now manually toggle specific post-processing effects, such as Chromatic Aberration, Bloom, and Anisotropic Materials, independently of the general quality presets.
For those on lower-end hardware, the "Low" shadow setting has been reworked to disable volumetric fog, providing a much-needed FPS boost automatically. The update also addresses a frustrating engine bug that was inadvertently capping laptop users at 60 FPS.
To roll out these changes quickly, the developers noted that some of the new menu settings are currently only available in English. However, the team promised to provide full translations for all supported languages in a future patch.
Bug Fixes Resolves 90% of Crashes
Beyond the settings improvements, Wildlight focused on resolving crashes and bugs, reporting that these fixes have significantly improved the game’s stability, reducing crashes by 90%. These specifically target issues where the game would hang while leaving matches on PS5 or during long loading screens on slower storage drives.
Furthermore, social features were improved, ensuring that friends appear online correctly and that matchmaking status updates reliably across Xbox and PC.
While the latest patch addresses many of the community’s concerns on stability and performance, Wildlight still has a long way to go to improve the overall quality of the arena shooter. The game currently holds a "Mostly Negative" rating on Steam, with players criticizing its massive maps for being ill-suited to 3v3 combat and calling it a "confused mishmash" of genres plagued by tedious looting.
Here at Game8, we gave Highguard a 60 out of 100 for its shaky attempt at reinventing the classic arena shooter genre, but having the potential to be better if Wildlight makes the right improvements. Check out more of our thoughts on the game below.
Wildlight CEO Wishes The Reveal Was Received Better
Highguard’s current impression within the community began with its reveal during The Game Awards (TGA) 2025, which Wildlight Entertainment CEO Dusty Welch wishes had been better. During an interview with PC Gamer on January 27, Welch expressed his thoughts on their title’s unfortunate debut.
He admitted that the lackluster introduction was partly the team’s fault. "I think, ultimately, we could have made a different trailer—a better trailer that wasn't about entertaining, which is what we think [The Game Awards] was about. We could have made something that did a better job of highlighting the unique loop of the game. So that's on us. We take that, but the team is resilient," Welch stated.
Many expected the biggest gaming awards show of the year to end with something grand, which also didn’t help Highguard’s cause, as there was no hype whatsoever leading up to the reveal. Some even went so far as to state that TGA creator Geoff Keighley was paid a large sum to push the game to close out the event.
Welch clarified this issue and emphasized that it was just Geoff trying to give an indie title a platform to introduce to what he thought was a great game. "As an indie who was unknown by choice, who wouldn't jump at the chance to do that? Here's the biggest platform [in gaming], right?" he said.
In terms of the sudden silence after its TGA reveal, Highguard Design and Creative Director Jason McCord explained that it was part of their plan to go dark, then follow up with more information about the gameplay. "If the reception had been totally different, it would have been the same plan. The key is, you've got to play the game," he said.
Sadly, this tough opening impression on the game lingers to this day, and coupled with the existing issues Highguard has, Wildlight will have a tough hill to climb. Regardless, the developers are continuing their efforts to improve the game and hope to reach their fans’ expectations.
Highguard is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. To know more information about the game, check out our page below.
Source:
Highguard Twitter (X) post on 1.0.4 Patch Notes
'Ultimately, we could have made a different trailer': Highguard CEO responds to that poorly-received Game Awards reveal
