“Easy to learn, hard to master”: How Highguard plans to shake up the live-service scene

Regardless of its lack of selling, apart from being the ultimate trailer at The Recreation Awards, Highguard created plenty of buzz on-line forward of right now’s launch.

A brand new addition to the hero-shooter style, Highguard has been developed by Wildlight Leisure, an impartial studio comprised of former Apex Legends and Titanfall builders. 

With a previous historical past in creating some of the fashionable battle royales in esports — which was additionally famously shadow dropped —it’s arduous to foretell how the studio’s ‘raid-shooter’ will carry out, each from an informal and aggressive standpoint. 

Esports Insider was flown out by Wildlight Leisure to play Highguard forward of its launch. Through the occasion, ESI spoke with Mohammad Alavi, Lead Designer for Highguard, and Jason Torfin, its VP of Product and Publishing, and Recreation Author, to debate Highguard, their ambitions for the title, and its esports potential. 

Highguard is a 3v3 first-person raid shooter, the place groups arrange defences in distinctive bases, journey out to assemble loot, and safe the ‘Shieldbreaker’ wanted to raid the opposing group. It includes a solid of playable heroes known as Wardens with distinctive skills, a big loot pool to form loadouts, and extra.

Highguard is a free-to-play title that’s out there on PC, Xbox Sequence X|S, and PlayStation 5.

Highguard releases with a dwell service roadmap, divided into a number of episodes spanning so long as two months every. 

Seven episodes are deliberate in complete, every of which can function two components, beginning with its launch right now (January twenty sixth), all the way in which to December this 12 months. 

The sport launches with 5 maps, eight wardens or playable characters, six distinctive bases and 10 weapons, alongside extra options similar to mounts, lootable gadgets and extra. Future content material will even embody new characters, modes to play, together with Ranked two weeks after launch, and weapons to make use of, shifting the in-game meta over time. 

A live-service hero-shooter is just not a novel idea in itself. The market is oversaturated with fashionable titles similar to Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals, video games which are additionally outlined by shifting metas. Because of this, Highguard will face robust competitors in its efforts to draw new gamers. 

Probably the most essential features that may form the sport’s success in the long term is the way it will sort out steadiness, an element that may influence each informal gamers and a possible skilled scene ought to one emerge. In accordance with Highguard’s builders, that is one thing that has already been thought-about. 

“We’ve been getting ready for dwell service for a very very long time. The group has labored collectively on Apex Legends and plenty of different dwell service video games,” said Torfin.

“We’re always turning knobs and balancing each facet of the sport, and I believe getting it into a big inhabitants can also be going to inform us so much about learn how to steadiness it. And we hearken to that suggestions, and we take a look at the info, and we make it higher.”

Alavi added: “We even have plenty of telemetry. We’re always getting information about how issues are going. So we will see if one thing is shifting too far into the meta, and we have to carry it again. Now we have all these instruments in place to try this in a short time.”

Through the press convention, Esports Insider was curious to know the place the builders’ priorities lay and whether or not steadiness took precedence over content material. Because of this, the query was posed about ‘energy creep’, an issue a number of the most popular esports titles face, the place new additions overpower legacy content material. 

Torfin commented: “Once we begin from a basis the place the whole lot is measured out in a very good cadence, it provides us time to steadiness issues from episode to episode. And that helps so much by way of addressing that.

“Then there are additionally various things as you get additional into any dwell service with ranked or different issues like that. You begin utilizing different issues, like perhaps you ban sure characters or sure bases. And also you begin to attempt to discover methods to repeatedly maintain the taking part in area even for everyone.”

Contemplating Wildlight Leisure’s Apex Legends historical past through the builders’ time at Respawn Leisure, followers are wanting to know whether or not Highguard will observe in its predecessor’s footsteps to turn out to be a aggressive title. 

When attempting the sport for the primary time, some issues, specifically, stood out. From the statistics display screen following a match, to the in-game content material, similar to purchasable gadgets within the store. Nevertheless, options generally related to the esports scene, similar to a replay or observer system, have been noticeably absent. Detecting this omission, the builders have been requested whether or not the sport would come with options in future updates that will support gamers, casters and organisers in esports. 

Torfin shared: “The way in which we take into consideration esports is we wish to see if there’s demand there first for the sport. 

“So we wish to be very environment friendly with our sources and keep agile and nimble. We do assume the sport is tremendous watchable, and so I believe as soon as we see how gamers take it on, we’re ready to quickly help these kinds of issues if an ecosystem sort of rises up.”

The sport definitely has esports potential, although its foremost problem will probably be to achieve a large viewers in a crowded market. Numerous hardcore gamers have already got their ‘without end sport’, and scenes they observe. Except an infrastructure is created as effectively, most established esports athletes will seemingly follow their singular title. 

Nevertheless, it’s a sport with a singular gameplay loop, serving to to distinguish Highguard from its esports competitors by way of gameplay and viewer expertise. New esports scenes and inaugural majors have emerged up to now 12 months surrounding video games like Marvel Rivals and The Finals. Highguard might observe the identical pattern. 

Regardless of this, it stays to be seen whether or not the builders are prepared to take that step. Esports Insider requested what sort of sport Wildlight Entertainment was attempting to create and whether or not the studio would help an esports scene ought to the chance come up.

Alavi mentioned: “Aggressive integrity is a phrase we throw round so much as a result of we imagine in it. However above all that, and aggressive integrity feeds into it too, we wish the sport to be enjoyable. A part of that ‘simple to be taught, arduous to grasp’, that’s sort of our mentality. We would like everyone to get into it and have enjoyable, however we additionally need sufficient depth there that the talent expression could be there.”

Torfin added: ‘We’re small and impartial, and we’re additionally self-publishing, so we do have restricted sources… We undoubtedly wish to go there if there’s urge for food for it, for positive. And I believe we constructed the proper group, the proper processes, and the proper plan to execute on it.”

When Highguard was first introduced at The Game Awards 2025 showcase, fan expectations have been excessive because it leaned on its Apex Legends historical past as one in every of its foremost promoting factors.

After taking part in the sport, many similarities could be drawn between the 2 titles. From the kits of the wardens — a resemblance to Apex Legends’ characters and their mechanics — to the primary gameplay loop of gathering loot and the gunplay in Highguard. Finally, it feels acquainted to its battle royale predecessor.

Whereas the sport has leaned on the builders’ historical past as a promoting level, the best problem dealing with the sport is whether or not it might probably step out from Apex Legends’ shadow and stand out as its personal expertise. 

Throughout discussions, the query was raised about what classes have been taken from the years of supporting Apex Legends that have been applied throughout Highguard’s growth. Particularly since Wildlight Leisure is a self-published, impartial studio that doesn’t depend on writer backing.

Alavi mentioned: “I believe the most important one is how ready we’re, proper? Apex Legends was our first dwell service, like our true dwell service, and there have been additionally Titanfall and Name of Responsibility earlier than that. However like, Apex Legends was our true sport as a service.  And we actually weren’t prepared, and we didn’t know we weren’t prepared.

“However coming into this, we went by means of that fireplace. So, simply from the roadmap, we went into it having that plan. However not simply that, but additionally having the instruments in place; having the telemetry in place, and having the whole lot able to be agile, as a result of that’s a very powerful half. You need to have the ability to get that group suggestions after which instantly act on it.”

After taking part in Highguard, there’s definitely extra to the raid-shooter than what was introduced within the initial reveal trailer again in December.

Nevertheless, as with most live-service titles, the sport might want to join with customers on launch and go above and past afterwards to shake up a market dominated by fashionable titles similar to Fortnite, Counter-Strike 2, Name of Responsibility and extra. 

The gameplay is exclusive and differentiates itself from different tactical shooters, battle-royales and hero-shooters. On high of its distinctive premise, it’s also easy to select up and perceive after a number of matches. Even so, the sport calls for many expertise, from useful resource administration, optimising loadouts and group comps, alongside coordinating together with your group to assault or defend an goal. Definitely hitting that ‘simple to be taught, arduous to grasp’ goal. 

Nevertheless, its 3v3 format generally is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it may be a steady back-and-forth showdown full of pleasure. Then again, it might probably simply turn out to be one-sided, which could be additional impacted by a participant leaving the foyer. 

As an esport, there’s potential. Matches aren’t outlined by which group scores essentially the most eliminations, however merely which base is destroyed first. As such, there are alternatives for storylines to develop throughout matches, whether or not that be comeback victories from the jaws of defeat or matches that come all the way down to the wire. 

Finally, Highguard’s success hinges on how fashionable the sport turns into after launch, and the way that adjustments within the months and years that observe. 

Editor’s Word: Esports Insider was invited to the occasion by Wildlight Leisure. This included journey and lodging. Nevertheless, Esports Insider has full editorial management of the content material.