"Originally designed to be a survival-focused shooter in the mold of Rust, things weren't congealing the way the team had hoped. Two years in, they pivoted to a more competitive-shooter-focused design. The survival crafting elements were streamlined into the game's current idea of a "raid shooter.""
"An open player beta might have caught these issues, but the team was reportedly committed to launching Highguard via a shadowdrop as Wildlight's veteran staff had done with Apex Legends back in 2019. Multiple developers told Bloomberg that "hubris" was to blame for them not changing course sooner."
"Despite releasing to over 100,000 concurrents on Steam, nobody stuck with the game. The result is giant maps with a big focus on looting and mining resources, a concept which feels empty and underbaked in the final version of the game that launched last month."
Highguard was originally designed as a survival-focused shooter similar to Rust, but after two years of development, the team pivoted to a competitive raid shooter format. The game features 3v3 matches on large maps emphasizing looting and resource mining, though these mechanics feel incomplete in the final version. Despite launching to over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam, the game failed to retain its audience. Wildlight Entertainment deliberately avoided a public beta, instead opting for a shadowdrop launch strategy similar to their previous success with Apex Legends. Developers attributed this decision to hubris, believing past success guaranteed future viability in the crowded multiplayer market. The strategy backfired, resulting in layoffs shortly after launch.
Read at Kotaku
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