Heads-up, Highguard fans. Since I know you exist somewhere. Announced and immediately released, Wildlight Entertainment’s Apex Legends/Titanfall-inspired—whoops, I’m not supposed to say that anymore—live-service game just got the much-requested five-versus-five raid mode. And credit where credit’s due: that was a nice quick turnaround, right?
But can it turn things around more broadly? Probably not. As of this writing, Highguard’s Steam CCU has hit the unfortunate four-digit range. Its peaks are notably higher, but only in relative terms; a mere 11k within the past 24 hours, and unlikely to climb a ton more throughout its first weekend on the market. At its zenith, just shy of 100,000 people gave it a whirl, which isn’t a dire start even for a game with this much ride on active player count. It’s just that they were mostly there to say they played it once, I guess.
Guardedly Pleasant News
Geoff Keighley, AKA Highguard’s strongest soldier, tweeted out the news that the game’s 5v5 raid mode is now live. A raid mode that no one knew was en route, which is rather in-line with Highguard’s broadly hushed marketing campaign. It’s a nice little shot in the arm for a title that seemed to need this larger-scale option from the get-go; I’d content a 10v10 would be all the more impressive and arguably just as fitting.
But there’s a catch: it’s a limited event. How limited, exactly? Here’s Wildlight Entertainment’s statement via the accompanying Steam blog post, wherein they label it an “experimental playlist.”
“We heard the feedback! For the weekend, we are experimenting with a 5v5 Raid Mode. This is a separate playlist and not meant to replace 3’s. 3v3 Raids are still there for people who enjoy it!”
So, just for the weekend, then. I’m sure the plan is to roll out a more permanent 5v5 solution in due time, and I can appreciate the need to get further feedback and return to the drawing board accordingly. User reviews have been pretty rough overall, so any ounce of goodwill is something of a salve. If 5v5 proves to be the bandage that Highguard needed, though, it’ll be sad to see it yanked so swiftly.
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