PlayStation Is Giving Some Highguard Players Refunds

Some Highguard players appear to be receiving refunds from PlayStation after purchasing in-game cosmetic items for the now-defunct PvP raid shooter. Despite being a free-to-play title with no requirement to make any in-game purchases, PlayStation is seemingly handing out refunds to Highguard players who spent their hard-earned money on the title, as some fans report receiving their money back without even making a refund request.

Highguard made its debut at last year’s massive Game Awards ceremony, which took place on December 11, and was then released shortly after, on January 26. Unfortunately, its life cycle lasted just 45 days, as Highguard was officially shut down by developer Wildlight Entertainment on March 12. It now joins the likes of Concord as one of the quickest live-service shutdowns in gaming history. As for why it failed, that remains a topic of debate. A popular theory for the game’s sharp decline in player count is due to the coordination and teamwork required by players, which made it much more difficult for casuals to have an enjoyable experience. Others blasted the gameplay as boring and repetitive, with no real progression system until an update arrived just days before the game’s shutdown.

Every Game to Shut Down Quickly After Launch

The live-service genre has always been a competitive one, and some games are pushed out of it before they even really get off the ground.

Highguard Players Receive Refunds From PlayStation

While Highguard was a free-to-play title on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, it did offer in-game microtransactions, allowing players to purchase cosmetic items for their characters. With the game now officially offline, those who have spent money on the game have nothing to show for it. Thankfully, it looks like PlayStation has begun issuing refunds to some players. A new post from one user on the Highguard subreddit reveals a screenshot showing a total of $60.38 being refunded to their account. They claim that they “didn’t care for a refund,” which suggests they didn’t actually request the refund directly from PlayStation and that the money is being returned to players automatically.

Unfortunately, there are currently no reports of the same thing happening on Xbox or PC. One user responded to the thread by saying, “Nothing on Steam yet,” while others speculated on whether or not Microsoft will do the same for Series S and X users. It’s unclear how many were actively playing Highguard on consoles at the time of its shutdown, but Wildlight Entertainment had previously stated that the shooter attracted more than 2 million unique users across all platforms at launch. Highguard did pull in some impressive numbers on Steam, peaking at just under 100,000 concurrent players upon its release. Unfortunately, things quickly went south, with barely 100 people playing the shooter on Steam in the build-up to its shutdown.

It also appears as though Wildlight Entertainment, the studio behind Highguard, is closing its doors for good. Following the game’s shutdown earlier this month, it was unclear if the developer intended to go back to the drawing board and create something new or if it would be following in the footsteps of its first title. Although it has yet to be officially confirmed, the studio’s LinkedIn page and official website have seemingly been taken down, which suggests the studio no longer exists.

If Wildlight has closed its doors, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Despite consisting of industry veterans with experience on games such as Call of Duty, Titanfall, and Apex Legends, Highguard was a massive failure that resulted in mass layoffs at Wildlight Entertainment just weeks after the game was released. At the time, the studio said it intended to continue supporting Highguard with new content and updates. Although Wildlight did indeed release further updates for Highguard, with its final update adding a skill tree, progression system, and more, it didn’t take long for that to come to an end.