Highguard's Final Chapter: Servers Closing March 12, Final Update Adds New Content

Wildlight has confirmed that Highguard will permanently shut down on March 12. Before the servers go dark, the studio will release one last update featuring a new Warden character, a fresh weapon, account level progression, and skill trees for players wanting to experience final matches.

The announcement came via X/Twitter, where Wildlight stated: "Today we're sharing difficult news. We've decided to permanently shut down Highguard on March 12. Since launch, over 2 million players entered Highguard's world, providing feedback, creating content, and believing in our vision. For that, we're deeply grateful."

"Despite our team's passion and hard work, we couldn't build a sustainable player base for long-term support. Servers will remain active until March 12. We hope you'll join us one more time for final matches. The team is excited to release a final update with a new Warden, weapon, account progression, and skill trees. Full patch notes are coming soon, targeting release tonight or tomorrow morning."

Highguard debuted at The Game Awards 2026 as the show's grand finale, with host Geoff Keighley praising his gameplay experience and offering Wildlight the coveted closing slot. However, the game faced immediate challenges.

Former developer Josh Sobel, who worked on Highguard before being let go from Wildgate, revealed: "The game turned into a joke from minute one, largely due to false assumptions about a million-dollar ad placement. Within minutes, it was decided: this game was dead on arrival, and creators had free ragebait content for a month. Every social media video got downvoted heavily, with comments flooded by memes like 'Concord 2' and 'Titanfall 3 died for this.' At launch, we received over 14,000 review bombs from users with less than an hour of playtime—many didn't finish the tutorial."

Highguard launched on January 26, 2026, with Wildgate maintaining silence between The Game Awards and release day. The game started strong with nearly 100,000 concurrent Steam players but quickly earned a "mostly negative" user review rating.

Wildgate responded swiftly to issues, adding a 5v5 mode to address 3v3 complaints. Shortly after, most studio staff were laid off, though the game continued operating. Reports emerged about the game's development and quiet backing by Tencent. After just 45 days online, Highguard's story concludes.

In our review, we gave Highguard a 7/10. IGN's Travis Northup noted: "Highguard's compelling gunplay, impressive update pace, and killer Raid mode make its attack-and-defend encounters memorable, even if the current version feels like a rough draft. The competitive matches have room for improvement, with maps that can feel empty and rounds alternating between slow looting and chaotic raiding."

"With just nine characters, a handful of maps and bases, and limited game mode variations, there's not much content yet. But what's here is fun, and I can see the makings of something stellar if it survives long enough to realize its potential."