HIghguard Studio Wildlight Seems to Be Closing Its Doors

It was to be expected, but it seems that the studio behind the controversial and short-lived shooter Highguard is heading down the same path and shutting down. Or at least, that is what can be inferred, as it was recently reported that the developer’s official pages are being removed from the internet.

Specifically, the studio’s LinkedIn page was abruptly removed in the last few days, and its official website has also been taken down, now greeting visitors with a “404 Page Not Found” message.

Wildlight Entertainment Could Have Shut Down Pretty Recently

This activity follows mass layoffs at the developer last month. Triggered by the rocky launch of their debut game, the cuts left behind only a skeleton crew in the hopes of keeping the title alive. But this attempt wouldn’t last long, as Highguard’s servers would end up officially shutting down on March 12, a mere 45 days after its release. While the game briefly reached nearly 100,000 concurrent players on Steam at launch, it lost roughly 90% of its player base within the first week.

Reports indicate that this severe drop-off led Tencent, the game’s reported primary financial backer, to withdraw its funding. Without the necessary revenue to sustain a live-service title, the studio was forced into downsizing its workforce, leaving it with just a core team for the game’s final days.

While the potential closure of the developer might not come as a surprise to those who have been following Highguard’s reception, we previously lacked confirmation on the final fate of the studio. Now, it seems more likely than not that the team is preparing for its sunset. In a recent statement from Chad Grenier, co-founder and studio head of Wildlight Entertainment, it was suggested that there is no remaining future for Wildlight, as he seemed ready to move on to other projects. He stated:

While this outcome isn’t the one we hoped for, I leave this experience with a tremendous number of lessons that will stay with me for the rest of my career. And despite everything, I’m incredibly proud of the team and what we built together.

Further supporting this is Grenier’s own LinkedIn profile, which now indicates that his work at the studio ended this very month. This serves as yet another clear sign that Wildlight Entertainment has likely reached the end of its journey, though official confirmation is still pending.

Founded at the end of 2021, Wildlight Entertainment aimed to push the boundaries of the shooter genre with a team of highly experienced veterans from studios like Respawn and various Call of Duty developers. It now appears the studio will be just another casualty in the increasingly vicious state of the modern gaming industry.

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