Regardless of its lack of selling, other than being the ultimate trailer at The Recreation Awards, Highguard created plenty of buzz on-line forward of right this moment’s launch.
A brand new addition to the hero-shooter style, Highguard has been developed by Wildlight Leisure, an impartial studio comprised of former Apex Legends and Titanfall builders.
With a previous historical past in creating one of the vital common battle royales in esports — which was additionally famously shadow dropped —it’s exhausting to foretell how the studio’s ‘raid-shooter’ will carry out, each from an informal and aggressive standpoint.
Esports Insider was flown out by Wildlight Leisure to play Highguard forward of its launch. In the course of the occasion, ESI spoke with Mohammad Alavi, Lead Designer for Highguard, and Jason Torfin, its VP of Product and Publishing, and Recreation Author, to debate Highguard, their ambitions for the title, and its esports potential.
Highguard is a 3v3 first-person raid shooter, the place groups arrange defences in distinctive bases, journey out to assemble loot, and safe the ‘Shieldbreaker’ wanted to raid the opposing crew. It includes a solid of playable heroes referred to as Wardens with distinctive skills, a big loot pool to form loadouts, and extra.
Highguard is a free-to-play title that’s out there on PC, Xbox Collection X|S, and PlayStation 5.
“We’ve Been Making ready for Dwell Service For a Actually Lengthy Time“: Highguard’s Future
Highguard releases with a dwell service roadmap, divided into a number of episodes spanning so long as two months every.
Seven episodes are deliberate in complete, every of which can characteristic two components, beginning with its launch right this moment (January twenty sixth), all the way in which to December this 12 months.
The sport launches with 5 maps, eight wardens or playable characters, six distinctive bases and 10 weapons, alongside extra options akin to mounts, lootable gadgets and extra. Future content material can even embody new characters, modes to play, together with Ranked two weeks after launch, and weapons to make use of, shifting the in-game meta over time.
A live-service hero-shooter shouldn’t be a novel idea in itself. The market is oversaturated with common titles akin to Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals, video games which might be additionally outlined by shifting metas. Because of this, Highguard will face powerful competitors in its efforts to draw new gamers.
One of the crucial essential points that can form the sport’s success in the long term is the way it will sort out stability, an element that can affect each informal gamers and a possible skilled scene ought to one emerge. Based on Highguard’s builders, that is one thing that has already been thought-about.
“We’ve been getting ready for dwell service for a very very long time. The crew has labored collectively on Apex Legends and lots of different dwell service video games,” said Torfin.
“We’re always turning knobs and balancing each facet of the sport, and I feel getting it into a big inhabitants can also be going to inform us loads about methods to stability it. And we take heed to that suggestions, and we take a look at the information, and we make it higher.”
Alavi added: “We even have plenty of telemetry. We’re always getting knowledge about how issues are going. So we are able to see if one thing is shifting too far into the meta, and we have to deliver it again. We now have all these instruments in place to do this in a short time.”
In the course of the press convention, Esports Insider was curious to know the place the builders’ priorities lay and whether or not stability took precedence over content material. Because of this, the query was posed about ‘energy creep’, an issue a few of the hottest esports titles face, the place new additions overpower legacy content material.
Torfin commented: “Once we begin from a basis the place every thing is measured out in cadence, it provides us time to stability issues from episode to episode. And that helps loads by way of addressing that.
“Then there are additionally various things as you get additional into any dwell service with ranked or different issues like that. You begin utilizing different issues, like perhaps you ban sure characters or sure bases. And also you begin to attempt to discover methods to repeatedly hold the enjoying area even for everyone.”
“We Do Assume the Recreation is Tremendous Watchable”: Highguard’s Esports Potential
Contemplating Wildlight Leisure’s Apex Legends historical past through the builders’ time at Respawn Leisure, followers are desperate to know whether or not Highguard will comply with in its predecessor’s footsteps to turn into a aggressive title.
When making an attempt the sport for the primary time, some issues, particularly, stood out. From the statistics display screen following a match, to the in-game content material, akin to purchasable gadgets within the store. Nonetheless, options generally related to the esports scene, akin to a replay or observer system, have been noticeably absent. Detecting this omission, the builders have been requested whether or not the sport would come with options in future updates that may support gamers, casters and organisers in esports.
Torfin shared: “The way in which we take into consideration esports is we wish to see if there’s demand there first for the sport.
“So we wish to be very environment friendly with our assets and keep agile and nimble. We do suppose the sport is tremendous watchable, and so I feel as soon as we see how gamers take it on, we’re ready to quickly help these sorts of issues if an ecosystem sort of rises up.”
The sport actually has esports potential, although its primary problem can be to succeed in a large viewers in a crowded market. Loads of hardcore gamers have already got their ‘ceaselessly sport’, and scenes they comply with. Until an infrastructure is created as properly, most established esports athletes will doubtless follow their singular title.
Nonetheless, it’s a sport with a novel gameplay loop, serving to to distinguish Highguard from its esports competitors by way of gameplay and viewer expertise. New esports scenes and inaugural majors have emerged up to now 12 months surrounding video games like Marvel Rivals and The Finals. Highguard might comply with the identical development.
Regardless of this, it stays to be seen whether or not the builders are keen to take that step. Esports Insider requested what sort of sport Wildlight Leisure was making an attempt to create and whether or not the studio would help an esports scene ought to the chance come up.
Alavi stated: “Aggressive integrity is a phrase we throw round loads as a result of we imagine in it. However above all that, and aggressive integrity feeds into it too, we would like the sport to be enjoyable. A part of that ‘simple to study, exhausting to grasp’, that’s sort of our mentality. We wish everyone to get into it and have enjoyable, however we additionally need sufficient depth there that the talent expression may be there.”
Torfin added: ‘We’re small and impartial, and we’re additionally self-publishing, so we do have restricted assets… We positively wish to go there if there’s urge for food for it, for positive. And I feel we constructed the correct crew, the correct processes, and the correct plan to execute on it.”
“We Went By means of That Fireplace”: Stepping Out From Apex Legends’ Shadow
When Highguard was first introduced at The Recreation Awards 2025 showcase, fan expectations have been excessive because it leaned on its Apex Legends historical past as considered one of its primary promoting factors.
After enjoying the sport, many similarities may be drawn between the 2 titles. From the kits of the wardens — a resemblance to Apex Legends’ characters and their mechanics — to the principle gameplay loop of gathering loot and the gunplay in Highguard. In the end, it feels acquainted to its battle royale predecessor.
Whereas the sport has leaned on the builders’ historical past as a promoting level, the best problem dealing with the sport is whether or not it might probably step out from Apex Legends’ shadow and stand out as its personal expertise.
Throughout discussions, the query was raised about what classes have been taken from the years of supporting Apex Legends that have been applied throughout Highguard’s improvement. Particularly since Wildlight Leisure is a self-published, impartial studio that doesn’t depend on writer backing.
Alavi stated: “I feel the largest one is how ready we’re, proper? Apex Legends was our first dwell service, like our true dwell service, and there have been additionally Titanfall and Name of Responsibility earlier than that. However like, Apex Legends was our true sport as a service. And we actually weren’t prepared, and we didn’t know we weren’t prepared.
“However coming into this, we went via that fireplace. So, simply from the roadmap, we went into it having that plan. However not simply that, but additionally having the instruments in place; having the telemetry in place, and having every thing able to be agile, as a result of that’s crucial half. You need to have the ability to get that group suggestions after which instantly act on it.”
Will Highguard Make It?
After enjoying Highguard, there’s actually extra to the raid-shooter than what was introduced within the preliminary reveal trailer again in December.
Nonetheless, as with most live-service titles, the sport might want to join with customers on launch and go above and past afterwards to shake up a market dominated by common titles akin to Fortnite, Counter-Strike 2, Name of Responsibility and extra.
The gameplay is exclusive and differentiates itself from different tactical shooters, battle-royales and hero-shooters. On prime of its distinctive premise, additionally it is easy to choose up and perceive after a couple of matches. Even so, the sport calls for many expertise, from useful resource administration, optimising loadouts and crew comps, alongside coordinating along with your crew to assault or defend an goal. Actually hitting that ‘simple to study, exhausting to grasp’ goal.
Nonetheless, its 3v3 format could be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it may be a steady back-and-forth showdown crammed with pleasure. Alternatively, it might probably simply turn into one-sided, which may be additional impacted by a participant leaving the foyer.
As an esport, there’s potential. Matches should not outlined by which crew scores essentially the most eliminations, however merely which base is destroyed first. As such, there are alternatives for storylines to develop throughout matches, whether or not that be comeback victories from the jaws of defeat or matches that come all the way down to the wire.
In the end, Highguard’s success hinges on how common the sport turns into after launch, and the way that modifications within the months and years that comply with.
Editor’s Be aware: Esports Insider was invited to the occasion by Wildlight Leisure. This included journey and lodging. Nonetheless, Esports Insider has full editorial management of the content material.
