'Highguard' Developer Hit With Mass Layoffs

It hasn't even been a month since Highguard's controversial release in January, but it appears the game is struggling to capture an audience, and developers are losing their jobs.

Over on LinkedIn, former Wildlight Entertainment level designer Alex Graner shared that he, along with "most of the team," has been let go from the company.

Graner also stated that there was a lot of "unreleased content" that he and other developers made for Highguard. "This one really stings as there was a lot of unreleased content I was really looking forward to that I and others designed for Highguard," wrote Graner. It is unknown whether the developed content will eventually be released for Highguard.

Graner concluded his social post by writing, "However, I'm excited for my next adventure. If your team or anyone you know needs an experienced Level Designer, hit me up!" He also shared his work portfolio.

Over on X, user Wario64 shared the news, and fan replies seem sympathetic to the affected developers, but are also critical of Highguard itself. "Sadly, this game never should have been greenlit. The art style is over played, the game never knew its own identity. Someone in the office should have really stepped up and advised this wasn’t it," wrote user Hadigan1633.

"It's hard to release a f2p game in this environment, but it's also hard to gauge what the industry will be like in the 4 years or so it'll take to release your game. Hopefully the devs land on their feet," wrote user Amans.

As of this writing, according to SteamDB, Highguard only has around 2326 active players. That number does not include any console players.

Additionally, the game currently has an overall "mixed" reception, according to SteamDB.

Highguard is available now as a free-to-play game for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.