Highguard is shutting down this month after troubled launch

Developer Wildlight Entertainment announced that the free-to-play shooter highguard will be shut down permanently on March 12, less than two months after its January 26 debut. The studio said the game, which reached 2 million players, never built a sustainable player base large enough to continue operations.

Highguard shutdown and timeline

The publisher’s decision sets a short public lifespan for the game: launched on January 26 and slated for permanent closure on March 12. Wildlight said the title attracted 2 million players overall but could not sustain a long-term player base. Before servers close, the game will receive one final update that adds a new character and a new weapon, scheduled for either tonight or tomorrow in the studio’s timeline.

Staff reductions leave fewer than 20

Wildlight pared back its workforce in February, with the studio laying off most of its staff. An all-hands meeting on February 11 reportedly told employees the studio "was out of money" and that most of a previously roughly 100-person team would be laid off; those financial details are not publicly confirmed. Following the layoffs, fewer than 20 people remain at the developer.

Former developers described expectations placed on performance metrics such as player retention. At launch, the game peaked at nearly 100, 000 concurrent players on one distribution platform but then lost roughly 90% of its players within a week, an abrupt fall that contributed to the studio’s staffing and operational decisions.

What this failure reveals about live-service risk

The closure of this title joins a pattern of recent live-service games that have shut down quickly after launch. The short runway for sustaining free-to-play live-service projects was a central reason given by the studio: despite reach, retention fell short of what is needed to support ongoing development and live operations. If retention and daily engagement remain low, maintaining a live-service shooter is difficult to justify financially.

Key takeaways

• Highguard will be permanently closed on March 12 after launching on January 26.
• Wildlight said the game hit 2 million players but did not sustain a viable player base.
• Most staff were laid off in February; fewer than 20 employees remain.

Looking ahead, the studio’s immediate focus is the final update and the planned shutdown sequence. Broader implications for other live-service projects will depend on measurable retention and revenue trends in the weeks following launches; if those indicators stay weak, similar short lifecycles may continue to occur for newly released titles.