A former Highguard developer says Wildlight’s approach to competitive play leaned into his “biggest fears,” ultimately contributing to the game’s downfall.
Highguard has endured a significant fall from grace since its release on January 26, with player numbers plummeting and Tencent pulling funding, and it seems some devs had concerns before launch.
Highguard’s Competitive Focus Matched Dev’s ‘Biggest Fears’
Speaking on the Quad Damage Podcast, as transcribed by PCGN, former Wildlight level designer Alex Graner revealed the concerns he had about the approach of the game.
“I can only speak to my side of it as a level designer, but when I joined [Wildlight], it was trying to figure out this new, ambitious game, and this team is always pushing the boundaries.
“You don’t strive to create something that doesn’t work out, but it happens, unfortunately. Throughout development, we really leaned into the competitive side of it, and that was always one of my biggest fears as a player.
“3v3 duos is always the sweatiest version of anything like battle royale, objective modes, wingman, you know it, you name it. It requires such a high intensity of communication with your team, and team play, that it doesn’t leave much room for casualness. I think that was the biggest thing that turned a lot of players off Highguard.”
That approach may have alienated solo players who didn’t have teammates to squad up with, or new players jumping in for the first time, and Graner believes the approach works “at a really high level,” it’s “a lot to grasp at first.”
Additionally, Graner explained the 3v3 format requires higher skill, resulting in a high bar of entry, and that, if you don’t work together with teammates, you’re “going to get rolled” as “it’s very hard to 1v2 in our game.”
Since its launch, Highguard developer Wildlight has seen mass layoffs take place, with the remaining developers trying to claw back life into the title.
So far, though, there’s little sign of a resurgence, with the weekly Steam player peak below 1,000 since February 23, and the numbers continue to drop.
What do you think are the reasons for Highguard’s failure? Share your thoughts in the Insider Gaming Discord.
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3v3 was a bad idea because the maps are flarking huge… battle royal has 100 players, domination has at least 5 players. You wanted to keep things intense and intimate on a map the size of Bulgaria. It’s just a bad level design. What a clown.