Highguard Lands on Steam, But Early Reception Sparks Alarm
Wildlight Entertainment pushes Highguard onto Steam with big hype. The team blends veterans from the Titanfall and Apex Legends camps. Early crowds surged, reaching almost 98,000 players online within hours of its January 26, 2026 debut. Yet the buzz quickly turned sour. Steam reviews labeled the game with an overwhelming negative tone, the first sign of a rough ride ahead for this live-service shooter.
Performance Woes Shroud the Launch
The loudest critic in town centers on how the game runs. Players across many PCs report rough optimization, not just on mid-range rigs but even on top gear. Some with high-end NVIDIA 50-series cards struggle to hold a steady 60 frames per second. Texture clarity and blur effects also draw heat, with forced anti-aliasing and motion blur blamed for a soft look. Numerous posts flag server access errors and fatal bugs that block matches or lock players out before they even load in. On top of that, Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 requirements create friction for some PC owners, amplifying the gripes.
Map Size Meets a 3v3 Mismatch
Beyond the tech hiccups, players question the core design loop. Highguard offers large, open maps meant for careful exploration and tactics. Yet the common 3v3 squad format clashes with this scale. Players describe long stretches of aimless running, more like a long walk than fast, pulse-pounding action. The raid mechanics—mining resources and defending outposts—feel slow to some and out of step with the high-energy flow the studio’s past games suggested. A few reviewers praise the shooting feel, but many say the whole package lacks polish for today’s crowded live-service space.
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4128260/Highguard/
Gunplay Earns Mixed Reactions, Progression Stumbles
Some players give kudos to the core shooting mechanics. The gunplay has moments that recall the fast pace fans expect from a hero shooter. Still, the broader system of progression and season content hasn’t clear enough hooks to keep players engaged. Critics note that the game feels unfinished when compared to top rivals in the live-service field. The blend of big maps and tight combat demands more fine-tuning, more balance, and a steadier pulse of updates to win back confidence.
Steam Reception and Player Sentiment
The Steam community has been blunt. Early metrics show a sharp, negative reception that outpaces most launches in recent memory. Even as the player count spiked briefly, the staying power looks fragile as players juggle crashes, slow progression, and a foggy endgame loop. The game’s status as an apex example of “hero shooter” design is clear, but many feel Highguard lacks the finish and consistency needed to stand tall in a busy field that includes Titanfall alumni titles and new contenders alike.
What This Means for Wildlight and the Road Ahead
Wildlight’s pedigree—tied to the teams behind Titanfall and Apex Legends—sets high expectations. The mix of large maps, base raids, and 3v3 battles promises a fresh take. Right now, the audience wants tighter optimization, fewer load issues, and a more engaging pace that fits a fast shooter’s tempo. The path forward will hinge on patches that bolster stability, streamline anti-cheat and launch flows, and deliver meaningful post-launch content on a reliable cadence. If the developers can thread that needle, Highguard could still find a foothold among fans of the genre and the studio’s previous hits.
Where to Look Next for Highguard Fans
Players debating the title should track official patches and community updates for improvements in frame rates, server reliability, and tuning. The Steam page remains the best place to gauge changes, with user reviews likely to shift as fixes roll out. For now, Highguard stands as a bold bet that asks players to look past rough starts toward what could come next, a test of whether the team can tighten the experience without losing the spark behind its big debut.
Tags: Apex Legends, Hero Shooter, Highguard, overwhelmingly negative, PC Games, PC performance, Steam, Steam reviews, Titanfall, Wildlight Entertainment
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By Sai T.
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