Highguard, the troubled new PvP raid shooter from Wildlight Entertainment, is officially shutting down on March 12, 2026.
The game, which debuted at Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards in December last year and launched this year on January 26 to a fairly promising initial player base, has quickly taken a nosedive in the weeks since. The studio announced on February 12 that it was letting go of a number of its employees, which signaled that the game might be in peril, and now the axe has finally dropped.
“Today we’re sharing difficult news. We have made the decision to permanently shut down Highguard on March 12,” Wildlight wrote in a social post today.
“Since launch, more than 2 million players stepped into Highguard’s world. You shared feedback, created content, and many believed in what we were building. For that, we are deeply grateful.
“Despite the passion and hard work of our team, we have not been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term. Servers will remain online until March 12th. We hope you’ll jump in with us one more time to show your support and get those final great matches in while we still can.”
Between now and the imminent shutdown date, Wildlight hopes you’ll jump in for a few, final rounds, and has even prepared an update that includes a new Warden, a new weapon, account level progression, and skill trees for those willing to give it one last go. The update should be available in the coming day or so.
“From all of us at Wildlight, thank you for playing, for supporting us, and for being part of Highguard’s story.”
It’s a story that’s becoming all-too-common in the current games space, with other multiplayer titles like Concord seeing similar fates within weeks or months of release. Considering the cost to maintain these games, which not only require live servers but constant updates and content churn by design, there seems to be little leeway for a slow start. It’s an unfortunate reality for the folks who work hard on these games, and we wish the Wildlight team, current and former, all the best for what’s ahead.
If you’re interested, you can download and play Highguard for free on the following platforms:
Have you checked out Highguard? Was it really beyond redemption?