Highguard to be unreleased 45 days after launch
Wildlight Entertainment says it will permanently shut down Highguard on March 12, 2026 . The free-to-play squad shooter launched on January 26, 2026, making the shutdown less than two months after release.
In its announcement, the studio said more than 2 million people played Highguard, but it could not build a “sustainable player base” to support the game long term.
Highguard will receive one final update before it goes offline. Wildlight says the patch will add a new Warden, a new weapon, account level progression, and skill trees, with release expected on March 3 or March 4.
SteamDB’s public charts show how quickly activity has fallen on PC. Highguard peaked at 97,249 concurrent players on January 26, 2026, and SteamDB listed 302 players online at the time of capture, with a 24 hour peak of 460.
Highguard is available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, and it will remain playable until the March 12 shutdown. The game includes cosmetic microtransactions, and Wildlight has not detailed any refund plan in the announcement coverage so far.
Highguard’s final update arriving soon. Thank you for playing with us.
Today we’re sharing difficult news. We have made the decision to permanently shut down Highguard on March 12.
Since launch, more than 2 million players stepped into Highguard’s world. You shared feedback, created content, and many believed in what we were building. For that, we are deeply grateful.Despite the passion and hard work of our team, we have not been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term. Servers will remain online until March 12th. We hope you’ll jump in with us one more time to show your support and get those final great matches in while we still can.
The team is excited to release one final game update to enjoy in the remaining life of the game. We’ll be adding a new Warden, a new weapon, account level progression, and skill trees! Full patch notes are coming, and we’re targeting tonight or tomorrow morning for patch release.
From all of us at Wildlight, thank you for playing, for supporting us, and for being part of Highguard’s story.
While this game may not be the best example for a title that should be preserved, the game effecitvely shutting down 45 days after launch means that years of work will go into nothing. At least gamers didn’t buy the game this time so.
Source: Highguard
