Highguard, the free-to-play PvP raid shooter introduced at The Recreation Awards final yr and launched just for most of its builders to be laid off simply weeks after launch, could have failed as a result of it “leaned too far into the aggressive scene.”
That is in line with former Wildlight developer and stage designer Alex Graner, who instructed Quad Harm Podcast that builders “do not try to create one thing that does not work out,” all through improvement, Wildlight “actually leaned into the aggressive aspect of it, and that was at all times certainly one of my greatest fears as a participant.”
“I can solely converse to my aspect of it as a stage designer, however after I joined [Wildlight], it was attempting to determine this new, formidable sport, and this workforce is at all times pushing the boundaries,” Graner stated, as transcribed by PCGN, by way of Eurogamer. “You do not try to create one thing that does not work out, nevertheless it occurs, sadly. All through improvement, we actually leaned into the aggressive aspect of it, and that was at all times certainly one of my greatest fears as a participant.”
“3v3 duos is at all times the sweatiest model of something like battle royale, goal modes, wingman, you understand it, you identify it. It requires such a excessive depth of communication together with your workforce, and workforce play, that it would not depart a lot room for casualness. I believe that was the largest factor that turned a whole lot of gamers off Highguard,” he added.
The difficulty, Graner believes, is that Highguard had “all these completely different guidelines and phases,” which made it tough for gamers who do not have already got a workforce to play with, and significantly difficult for brand new gamers.
“It is like, ‘Oh, you wish to loot, now we have got to chase this goal, now we now have to plant this goal, now it is time beyond regulation… It has all these guidelines, which I believe works at a extremely excessive stage, however when gamers are first coming in it is lots to know,” Graner defined. “On prime of all that, as a result of it was 3v3, that form of sport simply requires high-skill motion and taking pictures, which is already a reasonably excessive [bar to] entry as effectively. So in case you simply have a couple of dangerous video games or your teammates aren’t sticking collectively, you are simply going to get rolled, and it’s extremely onerous to 1v2 in our sport.
“It is all designed to be a team-based shooter. I believe that was the largest factor. Individuals simply form of turned it off as a result of they did not have the workforce.”
One other former developer additionally not too long ago spoke out concerning the disastrous announcement and launch, saying the sport, and by extension its workforce, “changed into a joke from minute one, largely as a result of false assumptions a couple of million-dollar advert placement.” Various high-profile online game builders have additionally defended Highguard following the web backlash through the sport’s launch.
We not too long ago realized that Highguard was apparently financially backed by Tencent, which seemingly pulled funding simply a few weeks after it launched. It reportedly has fewer than 20 builders engaged on it. Highguard hit a peak of 97,249 concurrent gamers when it launched on Steam. Now, it has simply 105 on Valve’s platform.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, in addition to a critic, columnist, and marketing consultant with 15+ years expertise working with among the world’s greatest gaming websites and publications. She’s additionally a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually Excessive Chaos. Discover her at BlueSky.