In an outcome so predictable that anyone could see it from day one, another hero shooter just bites the dust. After launching on January 26, Highguard is officially shutting down on March 12 — a lifespan of just seven weeks. It still hasn’t beaten Concord‘s industry-breaking record of burning through hundreds of millions in development costs before being pulled offline in under two weeks. But in today’s gaming economy, lasting less than half a year isn’t something to brag about either.
Wildlight Entertainment confirmed on X that one final update is on the way before Highguard servers shut down. The third season will add a new Warden, a new weapon, account progression, and skill trees.
Today we’re sharing difficult news. We have made the decision to permanently shut down Highguard on March 12.
Since launch, more than 2 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.
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The team is excited to release one final game update to enjoy in the remaining life of the game. We’ll be adding a new Warden, a new weapon, account level progression, and skill trees! Full patch notes are coming, and we’re targeting tonight or tomorrow morning for patch release.
Behind the scenes, the collapse appears to have come fast at the studio. It was reported that Wildlight laid off most of its staff just two weeks after launch, reducing the team to under 20 employees. According to the news, the cuts followed a player base crash from 100,000 to under 4,000 on Steam, with Tencent quickly pulling out its funding from the project.
On X, the reaction to the news was swift and brutal. Many pointed out the fact that both PVP and PVE now take a long time and care to take off and find success. Citing Rainbow Six Siege and No Man’s Sky, two live-service games that were on their deathbed but got a second chance thanks to years of unrelenting developer support.
“Genuinely wonder what even is the point of launching a live service new IP if you’re just going to shut it down before even trying to update it?” wrote @SynthPotato, adding that “Siege took years to gain popularity… Absolute disaster.”
YouTuber TheActMan was equally baffled, “You guys had a year long road map tho? Literally wtf was the point of this game? You’re not even going to entertain the thought that it could be salvaged like No Man’s Sky. That’s insane.”
On Reddit, some even suggested using Concord as a timeframe on how fast a live-service game will shut down.
“It lasted 3.2 Concords,” joked Arsalanred, before switching to a more serious critique of the game developer. “Had they released this game 6 months ago as a beta test they would have gotten the education and feedback they actually needed to hear.”
“From special feature at geoff’s birthday to shutting down a month after launch is rough,” wrote PowerScreamingASMR, referencing its controversial spotlight on The Game Awards before the rapid-yet-expected collapse.
Snarks aside, a real exhaustion has been setting in even before Concord hits. PVP hero shooters keep arriving with ambitious roadmaps; however, they disappear before the first seasonal meta can even settle. After all, with many options to choose from, today’s online gaming market isn’t just saturated — it’s plain ruthless. If a game doesn’t hook instantly, it’s discarded just as fast.
Now, as Bungie gears up for its own plunge into the live-service PVP sinkhole with Marathon, the question isn’t whether it can launch strong. It’s whether it can outlast four Concords.
