A significant shakeup has occurred at Wildlight Entertainment, as many members of the team behind the recently launched free-to-play shooter Highguard reportedly lost their jobs. Alex Graner, a designer with experience on popular titles such as Apex Legends and Battlefield 6, shared this news in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, which garnered attention from other developers linked to Highguard, including audio director Brad Snyder and producer Amélia Almeida.
Graner expressed his disappointment, stating, “Unfortunately, along with most of the team at Wildlight, I was laid off today. 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.”
Highguard debuted to much anticipation after its announcement at December’s The Game Awards. Developed by veterans in the hero shooter genre, the game combines first-person shooter mechanics with unique features like rideable mounts and raid dynamics, where teams compete to breach each other’s bases. Upon its release on January 26 for PC and consoles, the game initially saw strong engagement, attracting nearly 100,000 concurrent players on Steam and making it into the top 20 active games for both PlayStation and Xbox.
However, as the weeks progressed, the game’s reception became more lukewarm. Despite a sizable content update shortly after launch, user reviews on Steam were mixed, and by February, Highguard saw its concurrent player count fall below 5,000. Wildlight Entertainment, which comprises industry veterans from Respawn and former Call of Duty developers, had previously planned a robust year of post-launch content, including a new episode filled with maps and items that was released just last week.
As the gaming landscape becomes increasingly dominated by established live-service titles such as Fortnite and Call of Duty, new launches like Highguard face higher stakes, particularly given the millions of dollars involved in their development and subsequent content roadmaps. Recent failures in the space, such as Sony’s Concord, which was shut down just two weeks after launch, add to the trepidation surrounding new titles.
Despite these challenges, Wildlight’s studio head, Chad Grenier, had expressed optimism prior to the game’s release. He mentioned that player numbers aren’t the sole measure of success and emphasized that the most important aspect was the love for the game from its players. Wildlight’s CEO, Dusty Welch, further dismissed concerns over player fatigue in the shooter genre, highlighting positive trends in player engagement and monetization.
As the future of Highguard and its development team hangs in the balance, the gaming community awaits further updates and hopes for potential revivals and new content that could reinvigorate interest in the title.