Inside Wildlight Entertainment's chaotic road to Highguard
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Wildlight Entertainment breaks down the messy, experimental development process behind Highguard, detailing how a chaotic eight-team prototype eventually evolved into the tight 3v3 raid shooter available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
Developing a fresh shooter concept is never a straightforward path. In a recent interview with Polygon, the team behind Wildlight Entertainment opened up about the messy experimentation that eventually shaped Highguard, available now on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. The studio leans toward the term "PvP raid shooter" to describe the game's core mode, where two teams of three players clash to control a weapon known as the Shieldbreaker before infiltrating and destroying the opposing base. According to design and creative director Jason McCord, the label was mostly a necessity born from trying to categorize a genuinely new mechanical blend.
Getting to that streamlined 3v3 format required surviving some serious growing pains during internal testing. Lead game designer Carlos Pineda recalled early builds featuring eight competing teams with their own bases, resulting in sprawling two and a half hour stalemates that lacked any clear winner. Wildlight steadily reined in the player counts, testing larger 4v4, 5v5, and 6v6 structures before realizing that three-player squads hit the sweet spot for maintaining tactical awareness during frantic matches. Even the inclusion of animal mounts like bears and horses came out of practical necessity to traverse the massive maps before evolving into a signature piece of the game's identity.
That willingness to mix disparate ideas defines Highguard from top to bottom. The developers wanted the grounded gunplay and meaty weapon feedback of a military shooter while scratching a creative itch for fantasy elements. Balancing realistic firearms with fantastical creatures and mechanics proved to be a delicate act, but it ultimately gives the title a distinct flavor in a crowded genre. As players dive in and start learning the ropes of this new hybrid loop, Wildlight hopes the community embraces the chaos of what it took to bring this unique world online.
Tags: Highguard, Wildlight Entertainment, Shooter, Polygon, Gaming News
Original article: Polygon