Highguard has raided its last fortress, will shutdown on March 12

Source: Engadget

Announcement and Shutdown Details

Highguard, the live‑service multiplayer shooter announced at the Game Awards 2025, is shutting down on March 12. Wildlight Studios announced the decision in a statement on the Highguard X account:

“Today we’re sharing difficult news. We have made the decision to permanently shut down Highguard on March 12. Since launch, more than two million players stepped into Highguard’s world. You shared feedback, created content, and many believed in what we were building. For that, we are deeply grateful. Despite the passion and hard work of our team, we have not been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term. Servers will remain online until March 12. We hope you’ll jump in with us one more time to show your support and get those final great matches in while we still can.” – Wildlight Studios, via X

Timeline

• Launch to shutdown: Highguard will have been live for 46 days.
• Comparison: This is longer than the two weeks Concord remained online after launch (Engadget).

Development, Updates, and Layoffs

• Shortly after launch, Wildlight Studios laid off a portion of its staff (Engadget).
• A smaller team continued to support the game, adding features such as a 5v5 raid mode (Steam news) and the final update that introduced a new character, weapon, and skill trees.

Analysis of the Shutdown

• Marketing and visibility: After the Game Awards debut, there was little information or marketing about Highguard, which may have hampered player acquisition.
• Team background: Many developers were former Respawn employees who had success with Apex Legends. According to Bloomberg, Wildlight executives hoped to replicate that success, but Apex Legends remained largely unknown until after launch, whereas Highguard’s trailer gave players a month to form opinions without follow‑up support.
• Player counts: SteamDB data shows the game peaked at over 97,000 concurrent players and later dropped to around 300 (SteamDB).
• Funding impact: Declining player numbers reportedly led Tencent, a key investor, to pull funding, reducing the studio’s runway and contributing to the layoffs.

Conclusion

The shutdown of Highguard appears to be the result of multiple intertwined factors: limited post‑launch marketing, high expectations based on the team’s prior successes, a rapid decline in player engagement, and the subsequent loss of critical funding. Rather than a single lesson, the case underscores the challenges of launching and sustaining live‑service multiplayer titles in a competitive market.