Wildlight Interactive announced that Highguard will permanently shut down on March 12. The live-service shooter launched just over a month ago and is already pulling the plug on its servers.
The developer stated they “haven’t been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term.” This comes after the game hemorrhaged players at an alarming rate following its initial release.
Highguard launched with over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam alone. That number collapsed to around 500 within weeks and eventually dropped to roughly 150 players at its lowest points. The retention collapse happened so quickly that the game never had a chance to stabilize.
According to reporting from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Tencent pulled funding after the game failed to hit certain performance metrics. Those metrics reportedly weren’t shared with much of the development team, leaving many staff members under the impression they had more time to improve the game post-launch.
Wildlight laid off approximately 80% of its developers shortly after launch. The layoffs further damaged what little player confidence remained and signaled the game’s precarious position.
The game gained initial visibility through a trailer at The Game Awards. That marketing push brought curious players to the door, but the game couldn’t keep them. Highguard launched without any public beta or early access period, meaning the first time most players experienced the game was at full release.
When servers go offline on March 12, Highguard will become completely unplayable. Like most online-only live-service games, there’s no offline mode or single-player component to fall back on. Purchases, progression, and cosmetics will all disappear.
The developer released a new content drop shortly before announcing the shutdown. The timing made some remaining players wonder why the studio would push out new content just days before sunsetting the entire game.
