Sixteen days after the release of Highguard, developer Wildlight Entertainment announced it had laid off “a number of our team members,” while retaining a core team that will continue supporting the game.
Today we made an incredibly difficult decision to part ways with a number of our team members while keeping a core group of developers to continue innovating on and supporting the game.
We’re proud of the team, talent, and the product we’ve created together. We’re also grateful…
— Wildlight Entertainment (@WildlightEnt) February 12, 2026
No Marketing after Game Awards was the First Red Flag
Reception has been mostly negative. Being revealed at one of 2025’s biggest gaming events didn’t help, as it set high expectations without providing players a chance to engage beforehand. Following The Game Awards showcase, there was little to no marketing, no public test, and minimal community feedback leading up to launch. That’s a risky approach in today’s crowded shooter market.
That was the first red flag in my book. After the reveal, those in charge didn’t capitalize on the attention they had. Eyes were on them, and although the reception of the reveal was lukewarm, silence was not the best strategy. According to SteamDB, Steam saw 97,249 players try the game on day one. Today? The game is struggling to even get a daily player count of 3,000 on the platform. That’s the second red flag.
I played the game at launch and enjoyed it initially. By the second day, though, the excitement faded. Lag issues started cropping up, and over time, it became clear that while the game’s “raid a team’s base and plant an explosive device” mode is interesting, it lacks the depth, tension, and identity that can make players go out of their comfort zone and try something else. It’s engaging in bursts, but it doesn’t feel like a shooter built to make a lasting mark on the genre.
Servers remain online, though player counts continue to decline. The team has added a new map, a new character, and a 5v5 mode in response to player feedback.
Early layoffs mark the third red flag for the game. While a one-year roadmap exists, the combination of declining players, technical issues, and negative sentiment makes this an uphill battle for a live service title, a genre where recovery is hard to pull off.
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About the Author – Carlos Hernandez
Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.
