Highguard Players Receive Refunds as Studio Appears to Shuts Down for Good
It seems the free-to-play shooter has officially shut down as Highguard players receive refunds for certain items they’ve purchased and can no longer use.
Unfortunately, Highguard has been a failure since the beginning. When Geoff Keighley revealed it at the World Premiere of The Game Awards 2025, the reception was grim. After seeing gameplay footage, it only disappointed gamers, with many comparing it to Concord.
However, it really tanked once the game was released, with many people complaining about the weird gameplay, like how open the map was compared to how small the teams were. Most players found it boring, though some were “caustiosly optimistic” about its potential.
Unfortunately, after almost two months of being around, the game is now down. Spotted by Kotaku, players have reported receiving refunds from Sony for the money they spent in-game, such as cosmetics or battle passes. Currently, refunds have only been seen on PlayStation, with no news on Steam or Xbox yet.
Only a month ago, many gamers believed the game was officially dead after noticing the website was unavailable. Not only has the official website become unavailable, but the studio page on LinkedIn has vanished. While the developers reassured players that the game was still alive and well, this happened only days after the studio axed “most of the team” behind Highguard. Only a skeleton crew has been left to release the final update, which was released on March 12.
— Highguard (@PlayHighguard) March 3, 2026
Reports have surfaced that Highguard was backed by Chinese gaming giant Tencent, and unfortunately, the company pulled “the studio’s funding,” which was another big reason that the game failed. Several former developers told Bloomberg that “hubris” was another reason why Highguard failed. Apparently, the company’s top bosses included people like Dusty Welch and Chad Grenier, who enjoyed tremendous success with Call of Duty, Titanfall, and Apex Legends.
With everything shutting down and coming to a close, it seems as though Wildlight Entertainment, Inc. has shut down, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet. Chad Grenier posted a recent statement on LinkedIn, reflecting on the shutdown of Highguard. “While this outcome isn’t the one we hoped for, I leave this experience with a tremendous number of lessons that will stay with me for the rest of my career. And despite everything, I’m incredibly proud of the team and what we built together.”
Grenier’s LinkedIn profile shows that his work with the studio ended this month, which might be the clearest sign that the studio is most likely shutting its doors.
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