{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1589878,
        "msgid": "the-game-that-went-viral-at-the-game-awards-2025-is-now-shutting-down-its-servers-1772701923",
        "date": "2026-03-05 15:21:00",
        "title": "The Game That Went Viral at The Game Awards 2025 Is Now Shutting Down Its Servers",
        "author": "Reska K. Nistanto",
        "source": "KOMPAS",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Technology",
        "summary": "Wildlight Entertainment\u2019s Highguard, showcased at The Game Awards 2025 and released on 26 January 2026, is closing its servers on 12 March 2026 after a short life. Despite claiming over two million players, the game\u2019s concurrent player numbers declined sharply, with Steam peaking at around 15,000 after the first week.",
        "content": "<p>One of the world\u2019s most prestigious video game award events, The Game\nAwards (TGA), traditionally ends with a trailer for a highly anticipated\ntitle. At TGA 2025 in December, the trailer shown was Highguard,\ndeveloped by the American independent studio Wildlight Entertainment.\nHighguard is a shooter with RPG elements, reminiscent of Apex Legends,\nOverwatch, and Valorant.<\/p>\n<p>The game, which generated significant hype on the TGA stage, launched\non 26 January 2026 and is free to play on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series\nX\/S, and PC. This week, Wildlight Entertainment said Highguard has been\nplayed by more than 2 million people. Despite the large player base\nclaims, the developer\u2014founded largely by former Respawn Entertainment\nemployees, creators of Apex Legends\u2014decided to retire the game after a\nshort period.<\/p>\n<p>In a post on X (formerly Twitter) under the handle <span class=\"citation\" data-cites=\"PlayHighguard\">@PlayHighguard<\/span>,\nWildlight Entertainment confirmed that Highguard\u2019s servers would close\non 12 March 2026. In other words, the game will have lasted roughly 45\ndays, or about a month from its initial launch. So what are the reasons\nfor the closure?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite the passion and hard work of our team, we have not managed\nto build a sustainable player base to support the game in the long\nterm,\u201d Wildlight Entertainment said.<\/p>\n<p>Before the shutdown, the developers released one final update on 5\nMarch 2026 introducing a new character alias \u2018Warden,\u2019 a new weapon, an\naccount progression system, and a skill-tree progression feature.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cServers will remain online until 12 March. We hope you will come\nback to play with us one more time to show your support and enjoy the\nfinal exciting matches while you still can,\u201d Wildlight Entertainment\nconcluded.<\/p>\n<p>Wildlight Entertainment\u2019s statements about the server closure point\nto the current player numbers, which are not as high as at launch. On\nSteam, concurrent players after the first week reached only 15,000, down\nfrom 97,000 at launch.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-game-that-went-viral-at-the-game-awards-2025-is-now-shutting-down-its-servers-1772701923",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}