I understand why Wildlight Entertainment was originally going to shadow drop Highguard out of nowhere. We exist in a gaming landscape where live-service shooters are a dime a dozen, with every major developer and publisher out there seeking to take over a genre with endless potential for revenue.
But after a high-profile final reveal at The Game Awards and a distinct lack of subsequent marketing prior to its launch late last month, the hero shooter was expected to live up to an excess of hype it never anticipated, nor ever stood a chance of delivering. Regardless of how it was revealed, I still don’t think there is a world where Highguard could have emerged from the shadows to millions of players and critical acclaim. I don’t think that’s possible anymore.
Millions of players are already deeply engaged with specific games and live services, and the chance of them walking away from these investments for anything more than a passing dalliance has become increasingly slim. If Highguard wanted to repeat the rare success of Apex Legends, it was several years too late to do so.
Why Apex Legends Was Such A Success For Respawn Entertainment
Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends was a game in the right place at the right time. It followed in the footsteps of the critically beloved yet commercially mediocre Titanfall 2, with plenty of players hoping for another game in that universe capable of building upon its epic gunplay and traversal. As Fortnite took over the video game world, EA could get in on the ground floor and still offer something new.
The battle royale genre was still in its infancy, with only a handful of experiences like PUBG, H1Z1, Call of Duty, and Fortnite experimenting with the formula as it began to achieve huge mainstream success. This was before Fortnite became a metaversal phenomenon and Call of Duty began to sink into the malaise of Warzone.
Hell, Overwatch was still a hit at the time, alongside Destiny 2 putting out expansions that maintained a steady, consistent audience. But many were still waiting for something new, something that would change everything.
Apex Legends was that game, introducing an evolved form of Titanfall’s gunplay and parkour movement with a fresh take on the battle royale formula that was fast, innovative, and free. It pushed boundaries we didn’t even know existed at the time with its roster of heroes and ping system that would soon be adopted by every major multiplayer title on the market. It pulled in millions of players shortly after launch thanks to all the circumstances surrounding it, such as a growing genre begging for experimentation and established titans like Call of Duty falling behind the curb. There was a void to be filled, and Apex Legends did just that.
I remember hearing rumours that EA held a preview event for a game that was going to be dropping momentarily, for free, that was going to give Fortnite and Call of Duty a run for their money. Back in 2019, this wasn’t the norm, and we were still transitioning into the live-service landscape we exist in today. The excitement was palpable not only because the battle royale genre was red-hot, but Titanfall 2 was still fresh in people’s memories, and people wanted something more from Respawn.
This was it, and boy was it something special. We’d never seen anything like it in the shooter genre before. It wasn’t a borderline military sim like PUBG or a cartoonish take on things like Fortnite, but something simultaneously familiar yet groundbreaking. You dropped alone or in a trio and tried to survive with weapons and abilities that rewarded experimentation. There is a reason why Apex remains popular to this day, and why Highguard is already losing people as it sits at Mixed Reviews on Steam. Regardless of quality, it was fighting an uphill battle.
Highguard Was Always Going To Be Fighting A Losing Battle
When Highguard was revealed at The Game Awards, Keighley was primarily excited about it, not only because he played the game and enjoyed it, but also because he felt there was something very novel about a triple-A shooter being developed in secret only to drop out of nowhere and take over the world.
That was the intention with a shadow drop, I suppose, but after Highguard arrived last week, it was met with a mixed reception. The shooting is solid, and the mixture of genres that underpins its main game mode is compelling, but its maps are also too empty, it runs like ass on PC, and the low number of players can make matches feel glacial.
Wildlight has already addressed one of these criticisms by introducing a 5v5 mode, but the core appeal of Highguard is much more complicated than the initial brilliance presented by Apex Legends. It’s not a battle royale where you fight to survive, but a shooter asking us to perform several objectives and engage in dynamic teamplay, where casual players will have a much harder time falling in love with it.
There is potential in Highguard, but it all depends on whether it can sustain enough players to one day fulfil it. You can ride horses, and some of the heroes have cool designs, but that isn’t enough anymore when you don’t have a key hook that can pull people in and refuse to let go. All of those spaces are filled. Even newer successes only take the place of failures — like Marvel Rivals soaring as Overwatch 2 dips.
Unless Fortnite, Apex Legends, Call of Duty, or countless others cease development and start to haemorrhage audiences, nothing is going to change. Even in its current state, which has seen regular expansions and updates draw to a relative halt, players still play Destiny and refuse to let their time investment be for nothing. Highguard was never going to stand against these titans in the long term, and right now, I don’t think anything can.
Highguard
- Released
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January 26, 2026
- Developer(s)
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Wildlight Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
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Wildlight Entertainment
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
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Full
- Number of Players
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Single-player
