Highguard Player Count Crashes: 80%+ Player Loss After Launch

It is always unfortunate to see a game struggle at launch. Wildlight Entertainment, the team behind Highguard, has their hands full, with the Steam player count already dropping well below 10,000 players.

Highguard is described on its Steam page as “a PvP raid shooter where players will ride, fight, and raid as Wardens - arcane gunslingers sent to fight for control of a mythical continent.” It certainly offers a fresh spin in the video game space. Coming from the creators of Apex Legends and Titanfall, it all appeared to be a match made in heaven. However, after the game’s debut reveal at The Game Awards, many fans had mixed feelings.

At launch, Highguard boasted a massive 97,000 concurrent players - a great start that, within a week, dropped to only 6,000 concurrent players. The game currently holds a review score of just 43 from 35,000 reviews on Steam.

This does not look good for a brand-new release. Highguard’s own Steam page even removed the tagline “From the creators of Apex Legends and Titanfall.” Our own Michael Fisher says the “shooter falls flat” in his review of Highguard. The director wonders if revealing the game at one of the biggest awards shows around (The Game Awards) was the right decision.

Whether the decision to reveal the game at The Game Awards was wise or not no longer matters. What matters now is how the team will turn the game around. There is a promising roadmap for the rest of the year, but will it help bring back those 97,000 players from launch?

Let us know what you think of Highguard in the comments below. Can they turn the game around? It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a game reclaim the spotlight.