Highguard Shutting Down March 12
The live-service multiplayer shooter Highguard from former Apex Legends and Call of Duty developers is ending operations due to an unsustainable player base. Servers go offline March 12, making it another casualty in the crowded live-service shooter market. The shutdown comes just months after launch despite the team's pedigree.
Developed by Wildlight Entertainment, a studio founded by veterans from Respawn Entertainment who worked on titles like *Apex Legends* and *Titanfall*, Highguard was the company's debut game. The studio's co-founders include CEO Dusty Welch and game director Chad Grenier. Despite its pedigree, the game's reveal at The Game Awards in December 2025 was met with a mixed reception, contributing to an uphill battle to win over players fatigued by the live-service model. The game launched on January 26, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. Highguard saw an initial surge of interest, peaking at nearly 100,000 concurrent players on Steam. However, this momentum was short-lived, with the player base dropping dramatically within the first week. By early March, the game had fewer than 500 concurrent players on the platform. Just two weeks after launch, Wildlight Entertainment announced mass layoffs, reducing the team to a "core group" to support the game. Reports suggested that Tencent, a key financial backer, had pulled its funding following the game's struggle to retain players. The shutdown of Highguard after just 46 days places it among a growing list of live-service titles that have failed to find a sustainable audience. This trend includes other highly anticipated games like *Concord*, which was shut down by Sony just weeks after its launch. Before the servers go dark, Wildlight is releasing one final update for players. This last patch will add a new playable character, a new weapon, skill trees, and account level progression, offering a glimpse of the content that had been planned for the game's future.
