Highguard, the free-to-play squad shooter that generated a considerable amount of online discourse after The Game Awards, is coming to an end.
Wildlight Entertainment says that Highguard will be shut down permanently on March 12, 2026. To note, Highguard released only on January 26, 2026. The studio says, "despite the passion and hard work of our team, we have not been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term."
Before its final goodbye, Highguard will receive one final update. This update should arrive within the next day or so and will add a new character and weapon. There will be other, currently undisclosed, changes also coming.
As unfortunate as this is to say, the ultimate fate of Highguard seemed to be written on the wall since its reveal at The Game Awards at the end of 2025. Showrunner Geoff Keighley ended the show by sharing the trailer for Highguard, which ultimately left a sour taste in the mouths of numerous fanbases hoping for basically anything other than yet another live-service competitive hero shooter. To note, the placement of Highguard to wrap up The Game Awards was Keighley's call to make as Wildlight allegedly did not pay for that prime placement.
Highguard would be the first and probably only release from Wildlight, a studio that was founded by developers that previously worked on games such as Apex Legends, Call of Duty, and Titanfall. Most of those developers were laid off in February. A week after, the Highguard website went offline, which prompted many to suspect that the game was on the verge of shutting down even then.
Several live-service titles have either been shut down shortly after launch or they have been cancelled while still in development. Highguard now joins games such as Concord, a God of War live-service game from Bluepoint, two unannounced titles from Bend Studio, and even The Last of Us Multiplayer which were either shut down after a very short run or canned entirely. Still, there are at least a couple more live-service multiplayer titles still on the horizon, one of which is a co-op Horizon title and the other is Marathon.
I have included Wildlight Entertainment's full statement below as it was shared on Twitter:
Today we’re sharing difficult news. We have made the decision to permanently shut down Highguard on March 12.
Since launch, more than 2 million players stepped into Highguard’s world. You shared feedback, created content, and many believed in what we were building. For that, we are deeply grateful.
Despite the passion and hard work of our team, we have not been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term. Servers will remain online until March 12th. We hope you’ll jump in with us one more time to show your support and get those final great matches in while we still can.
The team is excited to release one final game update to enjoy in the remaining life of the game. We'll be adding a new Warden, a new weapon, account level progression, and skill trees! Full patch notes are coming, and we're targeting tonight or tomorrow morning for patch release.
From all of us at Wildlight, thank you for playing, for supporting us, and for being part of Highguard’s story.
Since launch, more than 2 million players stepped into Highguard’s world. You shared feedback, created content, and many believed in what we were building. For that, we are deeply grateful.
Despite the passion and hard work of our team, we have not been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term. Servers will remain online until March 12th. We hope you’ll jump in with us one more time to show your support and get those final great matches in while we still can.
The team is excited to release one final game update to enjoy in the remaining life of the game. We'll be adding a new Warden, a new weapon, account level progression, and skill trees! Full patch notes are coming, and we're targeting tonight or tomorrow morning for patch release.
From all of us at Wildlight, thank you for playing, for supporting us, and for being part of Highguard’s story.
