Hey, Daily Quest readers.
HERO SHOOTER HYPE TO HELL—IN 72 HOURS! Highguard exploded at the TGA 2025 finale and shadow-dropped on January 26, 2026. It peaked at a massive 382,943 viewers on Twitch as the internet rushed to see what the Apex/Titanfall veterans at Wildlight had cooked up.
Fast forward to today, and the "Highguard Hangover" is real. Viewership has cratered to a peak of roughly 2,500 to 6,000 viewers—a 99% drop—while the Steam player base has shed 90% of its launch-day crowd.
The Nosedive by the Numbers
The initial surge was driven by curiosity and massive streamer sponsorship, but the retention is currently at "emergency" levels.
| Metric | Launch Peak (Jan 26) | Current (Jan 29) | Drop % |
| Twitch Viewers | 382,943 | ~2,500 - 6,300 | -98.3% |
| Steam Players | 97,249 | ~8,000 - 12,000 | -88% |
| Steam Rating | Mostly Positive (Early) | Mostly Negative | 37% Positive |
Why the "Mostly Negative" Reviews?
The "Overwhelmingly Negative" tags that flashed on Day 2 have settled into a "Mostly Negative" (37%) score. The player rants boil down to three main pain points:
The "Latvia" Map Issue: Steam reviewers are calling the maps "the size of Latvia" but only populated by 3v3 teams. This leads to 10-minute stretches of "running simulator" with zero engagement.
Technical Meltdown: Even on RTX 5080 rigs, players report struggling to hit 90 FPS. Severe input lag and "Secure Boot/TPM 2.0" errors blocked thousands of PC players at the gate.
The Identity Crisis: Critics say the game feels like "everything and nothing"—part R6 Siege base defense, part Overwatch hero shooter, and part mounts/looting. As one Redditor put it: "It’s 2 or 3 really good ideas mashed together in UE5 with an MCU-at-home vibe."
The 2026 Roadmap: Can Episode 2 Save It?
Unlike Concord, Highguard is Free-to-Play, which means it can survive a "zombie" period if the content is good. Wildlight has committed to a massive 7-Episode roadmap for 2026.
Episode 2 (February 2026):
New Warden: A fresh hero to shift the 3v3 meta.
New Map: Likely a tighter arena to address the "empty map" complaints.
Ranked Mode: The missing piece for the hardcore sweat community.
New Mount: Rumored to be a high-mobility flyer or a combat-ready beast.
March 2026 (Part 2): Introduces the Raid Tool and new bases.
My Take: The F2P Advantage
Comparing this to Concord is easy because of the hero-shooter fatigue, but Highguard being free means the barrier to return is zero. If Episode 2 tightens the TTK and fixes the "empty map" pacing, the 11K core players could easily snowball back up. Wildlight’s Chad Grenier says they are in it for the "long haul"—let's see if the servers can hold until February.
Is Highguard a "Concord Killer" or just the next resident of the Hero Shooter graveyard? Let me know in the comments if you’re still riding your spirit horse or if you’ve already uninstalled!
Share this with your 3v3 squad, and stay locked for the Episode 2 patch notes.
Stay questing!
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