Highguard Announces 5v5 Raid Mode Is Permanent

After a weekend surge that saw Highguard's PC player numbers jump from the deep into what could only be its foundation thanks to the introduction of the 5v5 Raid Mode, which was originally billed as a “limited time event”, developer Wildlight Entertainment has decided to make the 5v5 mode a permanent fixture of Highguard moving forward.

The team acknowledged the mode's popularity in posts shared on social media, which helped them make their decision.

“Thank you to everyone who joined us over the weekend to try out the mode. Seeing the even split between 3v3 and 5v5 helped us make our decision.”

The need for something bigger than 3v3 or the introduction of bots or other fodder has been one of the biggest talking points since Highguard launched last Monday. Towards the end of the week, Highguard introduced the mode amid a barrage of negative reviews and a falling player base.

But something changed since the weekend. This is because live service titles can now maintain a somewhat stable count on PC.

Public criticism A high guard character in front of a weak badge.

relevant

Good news High Guard fans, this isn't the worst reviewed game of 2026

Highguard reviews are starting to hit, and while they are bad, they could be much worse.

Highguard, which launched with 97,249 players and then bottomed out in the thousands, has seen consistent concurrent player counts in the 11-13,000 range. Make no mistake. It's still nowhere close to where it was at launch, but it's definitely better.

People who play High Guard are happy with this news

On Reddit, fans celebrated the news that 5v5 will be a permanent fixture going forward. This is not surprising, as players who are truly engaged with the game seem to enjoy it.

“It definitely made a huge difference,” one user wrote. “The games were faster-paced and more frantic. There are still a lot of issues with the game, but this is a good step.”

“This is really impressive,” another player wrote. “The developers’ ability to keep their finger on the pulse of the community and make changes as appropriate and quickly is something we don’t see in the industry these days. They certainly deserve praise for their response.”

Elsewhere, its once “negative” status on Steam has changed to “mixed,” which is a result of more people engaging with the game. There's no denying that there's a lot of work ahead, but this is a positive step for one of gaming's biggest stories to date.