
Today, 12th March 2026, Highguard has been delisted from digital storefronts, and is no longer playable as developer Wildlight Entertainment shuts the game down.
Indeed, searching for Highguard on PS Store now returns zero results.
A free-to-play online multiplayer shooter from some of the minds behind Apex Legends and Titanfall, Highguard failed to generate similar levels of interest as those titles, ultimately winding things down just 45 days after its official launch.
Highguard made its debut at The Game Awards 2025 as the final announcement of the show, and this alone left a bad taste in the mouths of the people watching.
Total radio silence from Wildlight followed, leading many to speculate that the game could be in some sort of trouble after the tepid reaction from Geoff Keighley's awards show.
However, the game launched on 26th January as planned, and initially reached pretty impressive player counts. Unfortunately this didn't last very long, with most of its users ditching the game pretty fast.
Exactly why it failed to resonate is tricky to pin down, but we saw a lot of commentary online about its complex main mode, slow pacing at the start of matches, and a desire for higher player counts.
Whatever the case may be, Highguard was obviously planned to be around for a long time, but because it didn't pick up any steam, Wildlight Entertainment had to lay off a majority of its staff in an effort to keep it alive, just two weeks after launch.
It's not a very fun story, but it's perhaps the perfect example of just how risky it can be to enter this part of the market.
There's huge potential for big success when it comes to live service multiplayer games; many of the biggest titles around are exactly that. However, the flip side is just as steep.
For every Helldivers 2 or ARC Raiders, there are games like Concord or Highguard that simply don't move the needle. And it's not even that they're bad, really; the competition is just unbelievably tough.
Anyway, that's that. Were you a fan of Highguard? Are you sad to see it go offline? Tell us in the comments section below.





Comments 43
Developers need to stop making this rubbish and concentrate on proper games
Might be in the vast minority here, but I’m praying and hoping Marathon survives. Not because it’s Bungie but because the game genuinely seems to be trying to be consistent and innovate at the same time. There is a place for live service games in this industry but you have to curate it for longevity and player time in mind. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
The market of this genre doesn’t just have to be your Call of Duty’s and Fortnite’s and GTA Online. You can have IP like Avengers, Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad and Spider-Man The Great Web if given enough time in the oven with a quality roadmap of characters people care about.
Would’ve taken Titanfall 3 over Highguard any day.
Farewell highguard! You won’t be forgotten. The second instalment of the great concordian timeline is complete. Only one left before the trilogy is over 😔
Can we have proper games now please?
As always, the issue is shareholders and chasing a golden goose. Making a game that is good should be the most important thing but games that are good don’t always make a profit. And even making a profit isn’t enough for shareholders, they want long-term returns and that’s why we end up with battle passes and live service guff.
@space_g0blin marathon will survive but it’s going to be a very small sweaty crowd. They shouldn’t have invited the tarkov crowd to playtest the alpha. Players like shroud advising them to make it more hardcore extraction shooter was always going to alienate the masses who have 3-5 hours a week available to play games.
Next is Fairgames$.
Feel bad for the devs since they have to find new work but I don't really feel bad for this game dying off so quickly.
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@space_g0blin marathon is great. I would love titanfall 3 but I'm not hopeful it will ever happen 😭
@Scottyy I just can't see that coming out anymore, like didn't the CEO of the studio get fired or quit?
And now ther are sitting there, just waiting for Marathon, Horizon Hunters something something, FairGame$ and many more.
I really would have liked a Titanfall inspired game considering that these are the original devs and they're their own studio. Seeing a game like this literally have the triple take just felt insulting.
@showface Please go outside.
I liked what I played and wish it had time to evolve and grow.
Live service games like that don't go to the sky
I wonder if the E.T devs blamed the players for the Extra-Terrestrial game ending up in landfill back in the 80’s. Or is it just the modern players fault for crap games failing?
I still just can't believe the bubble of delusion they created within that studio.
When will these developers learn that no one wants these games?
And thus the cycle begins anew.
very generous to think concord and highguard went to heaven when they died
@nessisonett i am outside…
Andnothingofvaluewaslost.gif
@RBMango After hearing how badly Firewalk Studios was huffing their own flatulence, no dev’s delusions will surprise me ever again.
The 3rd musketeer will be fairgames when releases xD
Why do the money-men green light these stupid games, which clearly no-one wants. The eye watering amount spent on Concord just beggars belief. I don't understand where the money goes with that sort of budget?
Marathon will join them in 2-3 months.
@Lup that would be a shame because there is a wild experience to be had in Marathon. That game is incredibly well made
I don't play any of these games but while I do think Marathon has a chance b/c Bungie, and people who already paid for it will keep playing b/c they already paid for it, I just have to think Fairgame$ joins Concorde and High Guard on the scrap heap.
The ratio or rate of success does not seem very high for these types of games and I think Marathon success will contribute to Fairgame$ downfall like it probably contributed to Highguards demise.
I'm really not sure about Horizon. Game looks like it could get some kids playing it but will it be enough? 🤷♂️
It's so funny how they thought this game was a good idea. It's such a vanilla uninspiring game in an overcrowded low quality market. These games are like memecoins and every dev thinks their crappy version is the one.
@Lup Marathon will survive because the one thing Bungie does right they do better than every other dev in history. Addicting gunplay will keep people around.
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@showface I appreciated the joke. Sometimes when the truth hurts, others forget to laugh.
@rjejr
Highguard was free while Marathon has an entry fee.
Honestly, Highguard had better chances just because it was a free game when compared to Marathon and Concord and it still failed.
Whomp whomp
Please be more constructive with your message
@space_g0blin Notning wrong with good games succeeding. But there are so many games that are like needle in a haystack. Its a pity but i think we are at the max what is needed in liveservice or it has to be special. Why didn't they re-release something like Warkhawk or a Socom, Twisted Metal 2 World Tour with online multiplayer at Sony.
Here is my salute Emoji to this game, Concord and all the upcoming GAAS
🖕🏻
maybe developers need to take a step back look at the markets, forums, do some research and realise too many PvE an PvP games are failing - Concord - X-Defiant, The Day Before, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Anthem, Fairgame$, Vicious Circle to name a few ... give the gamers something they actually want not what they think they want
Idk why people don't learn throughout gaming history, if you make a great single player game people will buy it. It's that simple.
@Flaming_Kaiser
As much as I’d love another SOCOM, it just comes down to capitalism and business. Keeping servers alive for multiplayers games costs money. Just like every other company these days, Sony will want to see a big player base to justify keeping said servers alive. Those IP you mentioned while fun, won’t bring in numbers like Warzone, Fortnite and Destiny, or even Marathon. It sucks but that’s just how the market is now. Every publisher and developer is terrified to take new risks on a AAA scale. Because shareholders for greedy from the bar that was set in the last 10 years or so.
But at the same time I think IP like the ones you listed could benefit from 8-10 hr $30 or $40 single player experience to bring back old fans and introduce new ones.
Since Concord has become shorthand for catastrophic live service failure, it's kinda sad that the only thing anyone will ever remember Highguard for is upsetting everyone at the Game Awards. Oh well.
Oh noooo. Anyway.
@showface Yet somehow that character you just described sounds more unique than any character from Highguard and Concord lmao
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