Highguard Could Be Dead on Arrival as Gamers Fear a Flop is Inbound

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Highguard faced an uphill battle to gain traction after its underwhelming debut at The Game Awards in December. Millions of viewers had eagerly anticipated the ‘final reveal’ after watching hours of trailers and presentations, but the game didn’t quite live up to the hype, leaving many gamers disappointed.

Highguard, a new player-versus-player (PvP) shooter created by the team behind Apex Legends and Titanfall, is launching in just three weeks. Despite a featured trailer at The Game Awards, very little information about the game – which some are calling ‘Concord 2’ – has been shared.

Is Highguard going to be dead on arrival? The consensus isn’t looking good.

Highguard Has Already Drawn Negative Impressions

Highguard’s trailer at The Game Awards generated a lot of buzz, but it may actually hurt its developer, Wildlight. Many believe the game is doomed to fail because of very little promotion, poor initial reactions, and a reveal that didn’t impress viewers.

It came as a surprise, but this game is ultimately just another hero shooter relying on ongoing updates and content. It quickly drew comparisons to popular games like VALORANT and Overwatch, and unfortunately shares a similar fate to Concord, the unsuccessful PlayStation shooter that led to the closure of its development studio.

Okay, so the trailer was… a lot! Honestly, I was a little confused at first. It didn’t really explain the game, but it showed gameplay – players racing around on horses and even bears! They’re using everything from swords and magic to assault rifles, and it looks like it’s all about classic arena shooter modes, but on maps you can actually destroy. It’s wild!

There’s so much going on there, it’s unreal.

One of Highguard’s biggest weaknesses is its attempt to be different. By borrowing elements from many other games, it’s ended up with a confusing and unclear identity, which makes the overall experience feel overly complicated.

Track Record

The market is already full of hero shooters and online first-person shooters, and many haven’t been successful lately. Players seem tired of this type of game, and the recent reveal of Highguard didn’t generate much excitement, even with Geoff Keighley trying to build hype for it at The Game Awards. It’s unclear if Highguard offers anything truly fresh or different.

The biggest concern right now is the complete lack of marketing for Highguard. With its release just three weeks away, there are no significant marketing efforts, no previews with influencers, and no buzz on social media – which is a major red flag.

Currently, the game has only around 7,460 followers on Steam, which is a very small number compared to other games of its type. This is similar to the situation with Concord, which also had just a few thousand followers before its release in August 2024.

I’ve been checking to see what people are searching for, and honestly, nobody seems to be interested in Highguard. It’s pretty clear from the search trends that it’s not exactly a hot topic right now.

The game’s first trailer was released on the official channel on December 12th and has only received around 90,000 views so far. Viewers strongly disliked it, with 89% giving it a ‘dislike’. While IGN’s upload of the same trailer got 400,000 views, it also received a very negative reaction – 92% dislikes and a lot of critical comments.

  • ‘ChatGPT, generate a hero shooter with fantasy elements.’
  • ‘This was outdated when the developer first imagined it.’
  • ‘Oh God, I thought people were joking. It actually does look like Concord.’

The game’s online community, with only 113 members on its subreddit, is primarily filled with players asking about the lack of news from the game’s creators. One player expressed their frustration, wondering if the developers were either incompetent or if the game’s release was being pushed back.

The negative reaction seems to be driven more by feelings than facts. Many people have dismissed the game without actually seeing it played or trying it themselves. While how a game is perceived is important, the community remains unconvinced, and this could prevent potential players from even considering the free-to-play shooter.

If Wildlight Entertainment doesn’t quickly launch a strong marketing push to attract players, the early predictions of Highguard failing might unfortunately come true.

Let’s just hope they didn’t spend too much on The Game Awards ad spot.

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2026-01-05 18:19