How to Butcher Your Entire Game Studio in Under 45 Days - Highguard's Disastrous & Confusing Story

How Highguard Came to Be

The video frames Highguard’s launch as a case of failed management, misplaced confidence, and poor communication—not simply a lack of exposure.

After E3 faded, Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards became a major venue for game reveals. Highguard received the show’s final reveal in 2025, presented as a bold new shooter from an independent studio founded by veterans of Apex Legends and Titanfall.

Wildlight Entertainment was formed by former Respawn developers. Its founders wanted more creative freedom and, according to a Bloomberg report discussed in the video, a profit-sharing arrangement for employees.

The team initially pursued a survival shooter inspired by Rust. Roughly two years into development, it concluded that the concept was too large and poorly suited to competitive play. In January 2024, it pivoted to the faster raid-shooter concept that became Highguard.

Gameplay and Launch

Highguard’s central match was a 3v3 raid:

1. Players chose Wardens, characters with different abilities, and voted on a base.
2. Teams prepared and fortified their base while searching for a sword on the map.
3. The sword let a team break the opposing base’s shield and begin a raid.
4. Attackers then had to destroy key targets, including generators, while defenders tried to stop them.

The video argues that the large maps and multi-step objective made matches feel slow and complicated. It also criticizes the gunplay and art direction as generic, describing the overall experience as a mishmash of ideas.

Highguard was free to play, but its launch reviews were poor. The game reportedly reached about 100,000 concurrent players at launch, then lost players rapidly. The video cites complaints about performance, uninspired visuals, and tedious gameplay.

A 5v5 raid mode and other updates followed. Wildlight also announced a year-one roadmap with new Wardens, maps, weapons, ranked play, and limited-time modes. These additions did not reverse the decline.

The video offers no detailed tactical tips; its gameplay discussion mainly explains the raid loop and why the presenter felt it failed to hold players’ interest.

Promotion, Backlash, and Shutdown

Keighley promoted Highguard heavily before and after launch. He said he had enjoyed playing it, denied having a financial stake when asked, and defended the game amid criticism.

The video says Highguard did not pay for its Game Awards slot; reports attributed the appearance to Keighley’s enthusiasm for the game. The reveal trailer, however, did little to clarify what made the gameplay distinctive.

Wildlight went largely silent after the reveal, prompting speculation that the studio was in trouble. The silence helped comparisons to Concord take hold, though the video emphasizes that marketing could not make players stay if they did not enjoy the game.

About two weeks after launch, most of Wildlight’s staff were laid off. One former employee said the team had received positive internal feedback and blamed some of the fallout on online hostility and review-bombing. The video also notes criticism of that employee’s post for appearing to blame players and creators rather than the game itself.

A report by Stephen Totilo later said Tencent-backed TiMi had funded Wildlight, despite the studio’s public description as “fully funded” and the Game Awards presentation of it as independent and self-published. The video says the amount was not disclosed; much higher funding estimates were speculation.

Highguard continued to receive patches, but its Steam player count fell to around 611 by February 26. Wildlight announced that the game would shut down on March 12, 2026, after roughly 45 days. Its final update was to add a Warden, a weapon, account progression, and skill trees.

The Video’s Conclusions

Former Wildlight developers reportedly described leadership’s confidence as hubris: the belief that the team could recreate Apex Legends’ success despite a different market and a different game.

The presenter argues that the studio’s pivot left Highguard without a clear audience: players seeking base-building might prefer Rust, while those wanting a battle royale could choose Apex Legends. The video also points to inconsistent art direction, an oversized or unfocused concept, and a late, rushed-feeling release.

The video’s broader advice is to establish a fun, focused proof of concept before seeking major funding, define a realistic scope, and avoid assuming that a famous reveal or influencer attention can compensate for a game that fails to retain players.

People and Sources Mentioned

People: Geoff Keighley, Chad Grenier, Dusty Welch, Sven Vincke, Imran Khan, Paul Tassi, Stephen Totilo, Gabe Newell, Shaolin Ma, and Kasarogull.

Publications and accounts: Forbes, Bloomberg, Game File, GameSpot, Polygon, Eurogamer, Shinobi602, and Poorly Aged Things.

Studios, events, and platforms: Wildlight Entertainment, Respawn Entertainment, Larian Studios, Valve, Tencent/TiMi, The Game Awards, Summer Game Fest, E3, Nintendo Direct, Xbox Games Showcase, and PlayStation State of Play.