Highguard to Shut Down on 12 March after lasting only one and a half months since release

WILDLIGHT Entertainment has officially announced that their free-to-play shooter game, Highguard, will cease operations on 12 March 2026. The decision was made less than two months after the game launched on 26 January 2026. Although it had attracted more than 2 million players, the developers admit they failed to build a sustainable player base to support long-term operations. Behind the scenes, conditions at Wildlight had shown signs of instability even before this announcement. After reaching 100,000 players, the number plummeted to below 500 players. Things worsened when Tencent, the Chinese multinational tech conglomerate that had provided funding, withdrew their support after targets were not met. The withdrawal of funds led to mass layoffs for a large portion of staff in February. Now, only a small team or skeleton crew remains to manage the game until the servers are shut down. As a final salute to the community, Wildlight released a major update on 4 March, eight days before the game servers were closed. This update included the 10th character named Koldo, the Switchback marksman rifle weapon, and an account progression and skill tree system allowing players to tailor their character’s strategy. Jason McCord, Creative Director at Wildlight, said the team worked hard in the final moments to finish this content. ‘This is our final update and it’s big. Kudos to the small Wildlight team for wanting to finish and release it to our remaining players, even if only a few thousand might play it. They were not asked to do this. They asked whether they could finish it and release it to the public,’ McCord said. Highguard’s failure was also coloured by various online rumours and negative narratives. Some compared it to Sony’s Concord game failure, while others blamed a work culture that was too positive and not critical enough of the product’s quality. In response, Wildlight’s studio head Chad Grenier defended the project on platform X. ‘Actually, that’s not what happened. We were highly critical of the project and of one another. The team was driven and continued to voice their opinions. We always tried to prioritise the game and the players,’ he emphasised. Grenier added that the team only made a few mistakes. They created a game that did not resonate in the same way as Apex Legends or Titanfall. Although Highguard will remain playable until 12 March, its future afterwards is certain to end. Wildlight expresses deep thanks to the fans who believed in their vision. However, with the cancellation of one year of planned DLC content and no clarity yet regarding refunds for micro-transactions.