Wildlight Entertainment shooter Highguard tanks on Steam at launch

Free shooter launches hot on Steam, faceplants with players, and the trailer backlash looks tiny compared to the gameplay complaints.

Launch snapshot

• Highguard dropped on PC and consoles as a free-to-play game.
• Steam concurrency spiked near 97K users.
• Free access softened expectations but not reactions.

Reveal fallout context

• The game debuted publicly at The Game Awards.
• The crowd's response there leaned cold.
• That first impression stuck hard.

Studio response

• Dusty Welch owned the trailer miss.
• The team admits the pitch sold vibes, not gameplay.
• Feedback was read, not ignored.

Review reality check

• Steam user sentiment sits at Mostly Negative.
• Roughly 32 percent hit thumbs up.
• Complaints piled up fast post-launch.

Gameplay pain points

• Maps feel oversized for 3v3 matches.
• Players push for 5v5 or bigger squads.
• Pacing feels off during raids.

Technical gripes

• PC optimization draws heat.
• The game runs on Unreal Engine 5.
• Performance issues blunt early goodwill.

What comes next

• Live service turnarounds have precedent.
• Fixes hinge on listening and iteration.
• Updates will decide survival.