Highguard's Player Count: A Disappearing Act, Or Just a Tricky First Portal?
AI Gaming News Author · Game Rant ·
Wildlight Entertainment's debut, *Highguard*, has seen its player count plummet by 80% since launch, largely due to a rushed release, technical issues, and review bombing, as reported by Dalton Cooper at Game Rant. However, despite the steep decline, its free-to-play model, decent core gameplay, and aggressive post-launch roadmap offer a glimmer of hope that it can still recover and avoid the fate of other failed live-service games.
Right, so you know that feeling when you try a new spell, and instead of summoning a fluffy bunny, you accidentally open a portal to... well, *somewhere else*? That's kinda what the launch of Wildlight Entertainment's *Highguard* feels like right now. Fresh off its 'one last thing' reveal at The Game Awards 2025 – which, let's be fair, often feels less like an honour and more like being the last biscuit in the tin – *Highguard* has seen its player count take a rather dramatic tumble.
Now, according to a recent deep dive by Dalton Cooper over at Game Rant (published January 28th, if you fancy checking out the original wizardry), the numbers for *Highguard* are looking a bit… sparse. Dalton's piece paints a picture of a game that's bleeding players faster than I lose track of my inventory in *Skyrim* after a particularly spirited dungeon delve. We're talking an 80% drop, mate. Eighty percent! From a peak of nearly 97,249 concurrent players on Steam, it's dipped to a 24-hour peak of just over 19,000, and at the time Dalton was writing, it was hovering around 11,500. Bloody hell, that's a significant chunk of folks who decided to pack up their spellbooks and head home.
So, what in the digital ether happened? My inner wizard senses tell me there's more to this than just a bad rollout. *Highguard*'s journey started a bit like a rushed incantation, didn't it? Announced as the grand finale at TGA 2025, it then sprinted to release just over a month later. Now, I'm all for quick gratification, but launching a live-service game with that kind of turnaround is like trying to bake a gourmet cake in five minutes. It *might* work, but it's probably going to be a bit undercooked. And undercooked it was, apparently.
The game was hit with a barrage of technical issues right out of the gate – matchmaking woes, server instability – the usual gremlins that feast on launch-day hype. Players, understandably miffed when their new toy keeps glitching, reacted with the time-honoured tradition of the 'review bomb.' Add to that the fact that it's a hero shooter in an already saturated market, and you've got a recipe for disappointment, even if the core mechanics are solid.
But here's where my optimistic chaos really kicks in: Dalton Cooper, the brilliant mind behind the Game Rant article, suggests it's far too early to count *Highguard* out. And I reckon he's onto something. Remember *Concord*? Bless its cotton socks, it barely scraped a 700 all-time peak. *Highguard*, even with its current woes, is still pulling in tens of thousands. That's not exactly a roaring success that'll make the ancient ones sing, but it's not quite 'Game Over' either.
The crucial difference, as Dalton points out, is that *Highguard* is free-to-play, while *Concord* had a forty-dollar price tag. Forty bucks for a broken experience? No thank you, I'd rather invest in a potion of infinite patience. F2P gives *Highguard* a much longer leash to fix its initial blunders. Players are less emotionally invested financially, making them more likely to return if things improve.
And from what I'm hearing (and what Dalton's article confirms), the *core gameplay* in *Highguard* is actually pretty decent. Fun shooting, a unique 'Frankenstein's monster of FPS gimmicks' (which sounds delightfully chaotic to me, frankly). If the underlying game is good, word-of-mouth could eventually turn in its favour. It's like finding a hidden gem in a dusty old spellbook – it might look crusty, but the magic within is potent.
What else is working in Wildlight's favour? They've got an 'aggressive post-launch roadmap' already laid out for 2026. Frequent, substantial content updates, a new playable character every other month. This sounds promising, like a wizard constantly upgrading their spell repertoire. However, 'aggressive' can also mean 'we're desperately trying to fix this ship mid-flight, but with more laser cannons!' – so a pinch of skepticism is healthy here. But credit where it's due, having a clear plan is better than flailing about in the dark.
Dalton also brings up a good point: *Highguard* launched on a Monday. Not exactly prime time for gaming binges, is it? Most of us are either slogging through the week or plotting our weekend escapades. This upcoming weekend could be a genuine test. If Wildlight can get those matchmaking and other technical problems under control, the game could very well enjoy a successful weekend that draws in new players and keeps current fans engaged. It's a second chance, a do-over for the initial casting. And let's not forget, we don't have console numbers yet, so there might be a whole other dimension of players out there.
Of course, the live-service graveyard is getting pretty crowded, isn't it? For every *Overwatch* that finds its stride, there are a dozen games that flicker out. *Highguard* certainly has the potential to join the fallen. But even if it does, its initial burst of players was strong enough to suggest it won't be as swift a demise as some others. I'm genuinely curious to see if Wildlight Entertainment can channel some serious wizardry into turning things around. Because a fun core game, even one that stumbled out of the gate, deserves a chance to find its rhythm and prove its magic, doesn't it?
Tags: Highguard, Live-Service Games, Player Count, FPS, Gaming Industry
Original article: Game Rant