Highguard Is Shutting Down Less Than Two Months After Its Launch

Developer Wildlight Entertainment has announced that its raid shooter, Highguard, will be permanently shut down on March 12.

News of the troubled free-to-play shooter’s fate was shared across Wildlight Entertainment’s social channels today, with the statement confirming that, “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.” The team will push out one final update to the game, introducing a new Warden and weapon, as well as account level progression and skill trees.

The sunsetting of Highguard comes just weeks after Wildlight Entertainment laid off a significant number of staff, following negative online sentiment and dwindling player numbers. Unfortunately. Highguard’s rocky road didn’t start there. The game was first revealed during The Game Awards 2025, locking in the coveted show-closing spot. While many developers and publishers would kill for such a platform, the reveal ended up being the first nail in the coffin for a game that hadn’t even released at that point.

The online discourse stemmed from disappointment that the “one last thing” announcement was a free-to-play multiplayer game, as the show closer is usually reserved for blockbuster single-player titles or games from highly established franchises. Regardless of Highguard’s potential quality, many were quick not only to dismiss the raid shooter but also to actively lobby against it and, for whatever reason, pine for its demise.

Having played Highguard, I can attest to the quality of the core product. Gunplay is tight, movement is satisfying, and the concept is sound. While it didn’t align with my interests, I was hoping to see what the team at Wildlight could do with the game in the coming months and years, but we won’t get the chance to now. There are plenty of contributing factors at play here, but the short life and death of Highguard, and the bizarre hate campaign that helped it into its grave, is concerning to say the least. Immediately chastising creatives and actively running their projects into the mud just because it’s “funny” is tragic and deeply affects dozens of people’s lives.

More than anything, I hope this is the last time a game is thrown off a cliff without a chance to prove itself. It won’t be, but I can hope.

Did you actually play Highguard? Let us know in the comments or on our social media.