‘Highguard’ Got Buried Under Negative Buzz – But Does It Deserve A Second Chance?

Highguard, a PvP shooter game from Wildlight Entertainment, closed out The Game Awards 2025 with a trailer reveal, which received immediate backlash. Before fans even saw gameplay, they were calling it a bust.

Fans described the trailer as too cinematic and flashy, instead of explaining the concept of the raid shooter game. In a world where shooter games are the most competitive market, it’s important to stand out from the crowd. Players were disappointed when Highguard failed to do so with the trailer. With no communication from Highguard after the show until days before launch, doubts and rumors were further reinforced.

Highguard launched on Steam on January 26, 2026, to a negative reception. Early reviews were very negative, with specific complaints about performance, big maps and three-on-three matches with bad pacing. The criticism proved correct and discouraged curious players from giving the game a chance. 

Behind all the criticism and backlash lies another side to the story. Some players and critics have argued that Highguard is a good game once you learn its rhythm. Snappy gunplay, high-stakes raid phases and inventive mounts/base-raiding have players saying the game deserves a fair shot.

Wildlight Entertainment CEO Dusty Welch explained how the team could have made a better trailer to show the gameplay loop.

“Look, I wish Highguard had been received better. I wish the feedback had been better,” Welch told PC Gamer. “I think, ultimately, we could have made a different trailer – a better trailer that wasn’t about entertaining, which is what we think [The Game Awards] was about. We could have made something that did a better job of highlighting the unique loop of the game. So that’s on us. We take that, but the team is resilient.”

For now, Wildlight is focusing on building a strong core audience rather than a large fanbase.