Highguard game developer lays off staff just two weeks after release

Source: BBC Technology

Highguard game developer lays off staff just two weeks after release

Wildlight Entertainment

Highguard was created by a team who’d worked on Call of Duty, Apex Legends, and Titanfall. The developer of the multiplayer shooter, which received top billing at The Game Awards, has laid off multiple staff members just two weeks after its release.

Despite being made by industry veterans, the free‑to‑play game struggled to retain players after its January launch.

In a statement, developer Wildlight Entertainment confirmed it had “made an incredibly difficult decision to part ways with a number of our team members” — see the full tweet here.

Highguard’s “world premiere” at The Game Awards received a muted reaction, with many fans confused by its prominence in the show and by a trailer that failed to explain how the game worked or what distinguished it from other titles in the crowded multiplayer space.

The game’s launch was criticized for a lack of marketing in the run‑up, announced at short notice after a period of silence. When it finally launched for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox on 26 January, hands‑on press previews largely painted a positive picture, noting a unique take on the hero‑shooter genre.

It initially attracted just under 100,000 players on PC and about 380,000 viewers on Twitch, according to data from SteamDB. Those numbers have dropped sharply since, with the game reaching only 3,600 concurrent PC users on the day the layoffs were announced. Nevertheless, a core base of dedicated players remains, and the developers previously said they had a year’s worth of updates mapped out.

Highguard is based around teams of players working together against an opposing squad.

It’s been suggested that Highguard faced an uphill battle after the backlash to its premiere and the lack of publicity as its launch approached. Both games are hero shooters attempting to draw players away from popular, established rivals such as Apex Legends and Overwatch, which launched a huge reboot this month.

Wildlight has said it intends to keep working on Highguard with “a core group of developers to continue innovating on and supporting the game.” Their statement added:

“We’re proud of the team, talent, and the product we’ve created together.
We’re also grateful for players who gave the game a shot, and those who continue to be a part of our community.”