It seemed a given after the controversial reveal, plummeting player counts and layoffs, but it’s now official: Highguard is shutting down on March 12th. Wildlight Entertainment confirmed that servers will remain online until then, complete with some new content.
Over on Twitter, the development team said, “Since launch, more than two 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 12. 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 new update will be live either today or tomorrow. It adds a new Warden, weapon, skill trees and level progression for one’s account. “From all of us at Wildlight, thank you for playing, for supporting us, and for being part of Highguard‘s story.”
Highguard was announced at The Game Awards 2025, closing out the show to a less-than-ideal reaction. We later learned that Wildlight initially targeted a shadow drop for the show, but after host Geoff Keighley visited the studio, he suggested a trailer showcase spot. Following the backlash, the team kept a low profile, only re-emerging for the game’s launch on January 26th.
Despite nearly 98,000 peak concurrent players on Steam at launch, it received an “Overwhelmingly Negative” rating due to performance issues and design choices. While this has since become “Mixed,” the player base quickly evaporated. In the past week alone, Highguard struggled to cross 1,000 concurrent players on the platform.
While initially touted as self-financed, Highguard was later alleged to have been funded by Tencent’s TiMi Studio Group. After reportedly failing to meet targets, the latter seemingly pulled funding, which led to layoffs at Wildlight. Development was reportedly positive, but some former employees would cite the “hubris” of leadership – including apparently skipping external playtests – for the game’s failings.
