Highguard's Rough Launch: Dev Admits Trailer Woes

Highguard, a free-to-play PvP shooter developed by Wildlight Entertainment, has launched to a challenging reception on PC and consoles. On its release day, the game saw a peak of 97,249 concurrent players on Steam. However, it has since accumulated a 'Mostly Negative' rating on the platform, with significantly more negative reviews than positive ones.

Wildlight Entertainment CEO Dusty Welch has acknowledged that the studio could have improved their marketing strategy. He expressed a wish for better reception and feedback, specifically citing the announcement trailer shown at The Game Awards as an area for improvement. Welch believes a different trailer could have better highlighted the game's unique gameplay loop, taking responsibility for this aspect.

Despite the current reviews, the development team is described as resilient. The game's announcement at The Game Awards was a last-minute addition, with host Geoff Keighley reportedly enjoying the game and wanting to feature an indie title. The strategy of going dark after the announcement, as explained by design director Jason McCord, was intentional, with the plan being for the game itself to be the next major reveal to players.