Highguard Has Over 10,000 Dislikes on YouTube, But It's Unironically One of My Most Anticipated Games of 2026

Highguard, an upcoming free-to-play multiplayer shooter game in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, has been flooded with dislikes, but shooter fans should definitely still give it a chance. Developed by Wildlight Entertainment, a studio comprised of ex-Respawn Entertainment devs that worked on hit games like Titanfall and Apex Legends, Highguard is a bold new take on the hero-shooter genre, though it was unfortunately set up to fail at The Game Awards.

Besides awarding video game developers with trophies, The Game Awards is also known for its exciting world premiere announcements. The final announcement at The Game Awards usually has a great deal of hype behind it, and so there was a lot of anticipation as to what could possibly be revealed at the end of The Game Awards 2025. The show had already seen the return of Leon S. Kennedy, Casey Hudson confirmed as the director of Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, and the shocking trailer for Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian’s next game, Divinity. As The Game Awards 2025 reached its conclusion, everyone was sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what reveal could possibly top those big announcements. Unfortunately, there was no reality where the Highguard reveal could live up to such lofty expectations, and so having it go on last as opposed to somewhere in the middle of the show did it absolutely zero favors and only amplified the internet hate for it.

Highguard – Official Reveal Trailer

Don’t miss the official reveal trailer for Highguard, a PvP raid shooter from the creators of Apex Legends and Titanfall.

The hero-shooter genre has always been divisive. While Overwatch 2, Apex Legends, and Marvel Rivals have proven to be massive hits, OW2 has routinely found itself the center of controversy, and elements of these games bleeding into other shooter franchises have not been received well by fans. These factors have fueled general disdain for hero-shooters, and so when new hero-shooter Highguard was the last announcement at The Game Awards 2025, it was met with severe backlash. To date, the Highguard reveal trailer has over 10,000 dislikes on YouTube, and a measly 973 likes. Despite this, it’s still one of my most anticipated games of 2026.

Highguard Looks Like a Fresh Take on the Hero-Shooter Genre

If you don’t like hero-shooter games, I can totally understand why you weren’t intrigued by the Highguard trailer. But I am someone that loves the genre, having played Overwatch religiously since the original game launched in 2016. I met one of my best friends in the game, and so it’s a special one for me. My positive experiences in Overwatch (wildly toxic chat notwithstanding) have made me appreciate hero-shooters in general, and so I am always interested in giving a new one a try.

I’ve played plenty of Paladins, and also played a lot of Apex Legends when it first came out. I was big into Marvel Rivals when it first hit the scene as well, and I even enjoyed what I played of Concord. Concord, PlayStation’s ill-fated attempt at a hero-shooter, was like a combination of Halo and Overwatch, but with the ugliest characters ever designed and a poorly thought-out live-service model. I maintain that the core gameplay in Concord was fun and that if it was free-to-play with better-looking characters, it wouldn’t have died in two weeks like it did. As it stands, hardly anyone even bothered to play Concord. Highguard, meanwhile, has to deal with the negative publicity from its announcement trailer, but it has some things working in its favor.

Highguard‘s characters have yet to be fully detailed, but they already look a lot better than what Concord had to offer. The abilities in the trailer look derivative of other hero-shooters, but they still look impressive. And while we are still waiting on specifics of exactly how every match plays out, what was shown in the trailer looked like an intriguing new way to play a hero-shooter.

Based on Highguard‘s announcement trailer, the gist of it is that players ride across a large battlefield on horseback (or bearback or pantherback), and fight over a sword that allows them to access and raid the enemy base. Highguard gameplay looked plenty action-packed, and I am excited to give it a try for myself. Even if Highguard ends up being another Concord as opposed to another Overwatch, it stands a much better shot at success right out of the gate by releasing as a free-to-play game.

Highguard’s Release Date is Right Around the Corner, and It’s Free-to-Play

Most games announced at The Game Awards take years from their big reveal trailer to actually release, but Highguard will mark a rare exception to the rule. Barring any unfortunate release date delays, Highguard is set to launch on January 26 as a free-to-play experience. It will be available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S at launch, which should do wonders for its player count. Concord, by comparison, released as a $40 game and was only available on PC and PS5.

Highguard could still wind up being a bad game, but I am still greatly looking forward to it. Most hero-shooter games I’ve played are fun, and with Highguard being free-to-play, there is literally zero financial risk to checking it out. I’ll be seated for the Highguard release date on January 26 and can’t wait to see how it turns out, despite how much hate it’s currently getting.