Highguard Shuts Down Permanently Due to Low Revenue
▼ Summary
– The free-to-play hero shooter Highguard will be permanently shut down on March 12th, less than six weeks after its January launch.
– Developer Wildlight stated the shutdown was due to an unsustainable player base, despite over two million players trying the game and the team’s efforts to address feedback.
– The game’s director confirmed the closure was because there was not enough revenue to keep staff employed, following reports that Tencent pulled funding shortly after launch.
– Before shutting down, Wildlight is releasing a final update with new content, including a character, weapon, and progression systems.
– Player statistics revealed the average session was 91 minutes, PlayStation had the largest player base, and the most popular mode was 3v3.
The free-to-play hero shooter Highguard is closing its servers for good on March 12th, a mere six weeks after its public launch. Developer Wildlight announced the permanent shutdown, citing an unsustainable player base despite an initial surge of over two million players. The studio expressed deep gratitude to the community for their feedback and support, but ultimately could not maintain the financial viability needed to continue operations.
Wildlight stated that despite the team’s passion and rapid deployment of content updates, they “have not been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term.” The game, which debuted with a high-profile trailer at The Game Awards before its January release, faced player criticism over elements like map size and its core 3v3 format. The development team responded by introducing patches and making a limited-time 5v5 mode permanent, but these efforts failed to reverse the declining engagement. Servers will remain active until the March deadline, with the studio encouraging fans to log in for final matches.
In a final act of support, Wildlight is releasing one last update featuring a new Warden character, a fresh weapon, account level progression, and skill trees. Full patch notes are expected shortly. The studio closed its announcement by thanking players for being part of Highguard’s brief story.
The financial reality behind the decision was made starkly clear by Game Director Chad Grenier. When questioned on why support couldn’t continue, he simply stated, “Not enough revenue to keep anyone employed to work on it, unfortunately.” This follows reports that Tencent withdrew its funding from Wildlight just two weeks post-launch, leading to immediate layoffs. While a core team stayed on to attempt a turnaround, the numbers proved insurmountable.
Grenier also shared revealing player statistics in the wake of the announcement. The average play session lasted a robust 91 minutes, with players completing roughly 3.48 matches per session, metrics the director noted were actually quite strong. The PlayStation platform hosted the largest player base, followed by Xbox and Steam. The character Scarlet was the most popular selection “by a good margin,” and the majority of matches ended by a generator exploding, with the 3v3 mode being the most played.
Geographically, the United States was Highguard’s biggest market, with Japan in second place. Grenier highlighted that 92 percent of first-time players completed the training mission, a rate he described as “very healthy” and comparable to completion rates seen at the launch of other major titles. These engagement figures underscore that while player interest was initially high, the game ultimately could not convert that interest into a lasting, revenue-generating community, leading to its swift demise.
(Source: EuroGamer)
