Highguard studio Wildlight has reportedly laid off most of its staff just weeks after the game's launch. It's no surprise that Highguard hasn't had the easiest time since it was announced at the end of The Game Awards 2025. Reactions to the announcement trailer ranged from mild confusion and apathy to straight-up rejection of yet another live-service hero shooter ala Concord. Then the game was launched to middling reviews and performance complaints, and despite a flurry of big updates since, it seems the road may be coming to an all-too familiar end for Highguard. We're still waiting on word from Wildlight itself, but on Wednesday level designer Alex Graner announced on LinkedIn that he and "most of the team at Wildlight" had been laid off. Highguard boss says "the toxicity is challenging," will "continue to ask" if The Game Awards reveal was right decision "I wish Highguard had been received better," CEO admits, after cancelling a planned Apex Legends-style shadow drop Hours after launch, Highguard has "Mostly Negative" reviews and a peak of 97,000 players on Steam "Unfortunately, along with most of the team at Wildlight, I was laid off today," said Graner. "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. However, I'm excited for my next adventure. If your team or anyone you know needs an experienced Level Designer, hit me up!" I had a genuinely alright time playing the few matches of Highguard I did, and by all accounts it seems Highguard was doing alright for itself, so I'm hoping to get some clarification from Wildlight soon. I've reached out to the studio and will update this article if I hear back. After 30,000 layoffs and a dead MMO, Amazon reportedly loses gaming exec who famously said games "don't really have acting"