Well, here we are. After hearing quite literally nothing about Highguard since it somewhat infamous Game Awards finale debut, it is launch day, and now, developer Wildlight has decided it’s time to start talking about it, but mainly, let the game speak for itself.
It’s not quite an Apex Legends launch, though Wildlight shares former devs, given that we already saw its trailer and knew its release date, but even still, Highguard arrives in a fog of confusion where there is A) a developer stream today, B) the lifting of a creator event embargo and sponsored streams and C) the launch of the actual day, which should be at 10 AM PT, 1 PM ET. The reveal stream appears to be on top of actual launch. I suppose you can watch while you’re downloading.
Early buzz from the creator event seems positive, though, again, take that with a grain of salt, given what is or isn’t supposed to be leaking out right now ahead of the embargo drop. The game is described as difficult to compare to anything else, its “raid shooter” idea merging concepts in a way that is hard to describe. It would have been nice to see it described before today, but here we are.
Obviously, playing the free game is the ultimate test for fans, but no doubt all eyes will be on Steamcharts to see if this is “Concord 2” or not. Given that the game is free, I do not imagine it will get anywhere close to that, but there is “not bad,” and there is “good,” so we’ll have to see. Still, day one can only tell you so much. Word of mouth could increase those figures, or an immediate drop-off after would be a very bad sign.
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The creator promotion aspect always involves paying a number of big-name streamers to play for X amount of time during and after launch, so Twitch numbers will surge. But a test is whether, by the end of the paid period, those same creators stick around or go back to their “usual.” It has been exceedingly difficult to break into the PvP shooter space in the current era, though 2025 did bring two great examples: Marvel Rivals and ARC Raiders. Those, however, had largely positive perceptions before launch. Highguard had a somewhat ill-received Game Awards debut, and then… nothing until today.
It’s certainly possible that Highguard is just really that good. That its concept and gameplay are the kind of thing that launched the megahit Apex Legends, and all doubts will melt away. Though of course, the opposite can be true, and we have seen many underwhelming launches and initial players quickly drain away.
One thing about all this mystery is that we cannot predict with any certainty what is about to happen here. See you at 10 AM PT for the stream, and at 11 AM PT for however this launch goes.
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