Highguard's failure was partly a result of "gamer culture". Ex-Dev Share

Less than a month after its release, Wildlight Entertainment, developer of Highguard, the free-to-play live service title that immediately became one of the biggest talking points in gaming upon its release, has begun layoffs. This is the result of the game failing to captivate players.

One of the affected developers, technical artist and rigger Josh Sobel, took to social media to share a lengthy article about the first game's release and the circumstances that led to developer Highguard's fateful reveal at last year's The Game Awards.

This piece takes a sobering look at the realities of modern game development and the role “gamer culture” can play in ensuring that things either sink or swim.

First of all, Sobel noted that internal feedback is positive and negative feedback is constructive. The team seemed very confident about their launch, with Sobel writing, “Many of us were hoping this would finally break the financial curse of millennials.”

But then the trailer was released, and “it all went downhill from there.”

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Highguard failed because it attempted to provide an experience that already existed.

Wildlight Entertainment has announced that it has laid off the majority of Highguard's developers.

In particular, Sobel pointed out false reports that Wildlight paid to run the ads and that was what was going on there.

Sobel said, “We turned into a joke from the first moment because of our incorrect assumptions about running a million-dollar ad. Even prominent journalists soon started citing it as fact.” “The decision was made in minutes: the game was dead on arrival and creators now had a month of Rage Bait content for free.”

Gamers have a lot more power than they think.

Sobel cited the “Concord 2” comparison and the fact that the game received thousands of negative reviews upon release, many of which came from players with the least amount of play time. These factors contributed to the game's ultimate failure.

This wasn't the whole reason, but it played a role, Sobel wrote.

“In online discussions about Highguard, Concord, 2XKO, etc., gamers often point out that it's foolish for developers to blame gamers for their failures. As if gamers have no power. But they do have power. A lot of it does. I'm not saying that our failures are purely the fault of gamer culture and that gaming would have thrived without negative discourse, but that absolutely doesn't play a role. Every product is at the whim of the consumer, and consumers aren't the only ones going to ridiculous lengths to smear Highguard. It worked.”

The developer claims that the game and its developers deserve better than the fate they received, which was not specified by the Observer.

“Even if Highguard has a rocky launch, our independent, self-published, development-led studio full of passionate people trying to make fun games with no AI and no corporate oversight… deserves better than this,” he added. “We deserve to do the bare minimum to ensure that our downfall is not revealed in a pleasant way.”

In the end, Sobel doesn't regret this experience for a single moment, and hopes that whoever the developer remains with the game will be able to help it continue to evolve with the fans and creators who support it.

“I wish the few who remain in Wildlight good luck and hope that Highguard can move on.” Sobel finished speaking. “I still believe in it, and so do my fans who continue to advocate for it on our subreddit, Discord, Twitch, and social media. Even though this adventure ended in an abrupt and emotionally difficult situation, I don't regret it for a single moment.”