Josh Sobel, a tech artist who worked on Highguard, is reflecting on the highs and lows of the game’s development and launch in the wake of mass layoffs at Wildlight Entertainment.
Josh Sobel was one of the individuals laid off by Wildlight on February 11. After the announcement, he shared a lengthy post on Twitter reflecting on his experience working on the game. He mentioned that he had personally worked on the project for two and a half years.
His Twitter statement says that before the game’s reveal at the Game Awards in 2025, the team was receiving positive feedback. In cases of negative feedback, it was always constructive criticism. After the trailer dropped, Sobel says it was “downhill from there.”
“Even if Highguard had a rocky launch, our independent, self-published, dev-led studio full of passionate people just trying to make a fun game, with zero AI, and zero corporate oversight…deserved better than this.”
He then wished the remaining staff members luck and said he hopes the game can continue because he still believes in the project.
Wildlight Previously Stated A Core Team Will Continue to Work on Highguard
Confirming the news of layoffs in a social media post on February 11, Wildlight stated that a core group of developers would remain on staff to continue “innovating and supporting the game.” This came after a senior designer revealed on LinkedIn that he had been let go, along with most of the team.
Unfortunately, Layoffs continue to be a trend in the gaming space. Riot Games recently issued a statement very similar to theirs about their decision to downsize the team working on 2XKO. Read that full statement here.
What do you think is next for Highguard? Do you personally feel that the criticism that followed the reveal was warranted? Sound off in our official Discord server. Also, don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
