Free-to-play shooter Highguard will be permanently shutting down on March 12, less than two months after it first launched.
READ MORE: The biggest video game concerts you can’t miss in 2026
Highguard was the first game from Wildlight Entertainment, a new studio made up of developers who worked on Titanfall, Call Of Duty and Apex Legends. The game’s reveal trailer was the final announcement at The Game Awards 2025, a spot which is usually reserved for the biggest of titles, which created a lot of hype around the title.
More than 97,000 gamers played Highguard at launch but that number quickly fell. It also received a “mostly negative” review score from players on Steam. “The game isn’t fun and it isn’t interesting. I mostly just feel bad for the devs. The game clearly wasn’t designed or prepared for this level of scrutiny,” wrote one player.
Two weeks after Highguard launched, Wildlight Entertainment made the “incredibly difficult decision to part ways with a number of our team members” but promised work on Highguard would continue. However last night, it was confirmed the game would be shutting down forever on March 12.
Highguard had a year long roadmap
The game is shutting down 45 days after launch pic.twitter.com/Vim3PWINq4
— NikTek (@NikTek) March 3, 2026
“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,” explained a statement.
“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. 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. The team is excited to release one final game update to enjoy in the remaining life of the game. From all of us at Wildlight, thank you for playing, for supporting us, and for being part of Highguard‘s story.”
In 2024, another ambitious shooter Concord was taken offline after just two weeks following underwhelming player numbers.
In other news, Sega has announced a concert series celebrating the music of Metaphor: ReFantazio will hit the road later this year – check out dates and ticket details here.
The post ‘Highguard’ is being shut down after seven weeks following negative reviews appeared first on NME.
