Highguard has received its first-ever update, which is now available for download on PC and consoles. The patch does not include any balancing changes, but it arrives alongside a promise suggesting more comprehensive Highguard updates are on the horizon.
Highguard is a new hero shooter originally announced at The Game Awards 2025. It is the debut title from Wildlight Entertainment, a 61-person studio comprised of Titanfall and Apex Legends veterans. The game is built around three-person squads competing over shifting objectives in matches that culminate in a base raid. Players choose from a roster of heroes—or “Wardens,” to use the game’s jargon—and fight to control a powerful objective called the Shieldbreaker, which is used to breach the opposing team’s defenses and trigger a final assault on their base. Highguard launched as a free-to-play title for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on January 26.
Highguard Was the ‘One Last Thing’ Announcement at The Game Awards, and It Apparently Didn’t Even Pay for the Spot
Highguard caused controversy as the 2025 Game Awards’ last reveal, and a new report claims it didn’t even pay for the coveted spot.
First Highguard Update Introduces Crash Fixes
Less than a day following Highguard‘s global release, the game received its first-ever client-side update. No official patch notes were published by Wildlight, with the developer stating only that the revision addresses “various stability issues,” i.e., fixes some crashes. On consoles, the patch is labeled as build version 1.002.000. The PC update is approximately 18GB in size, effectively requiring players to reinstall the entire game.
Highguard Devs Promise More Updates Are Coming Soon
The first update announcement arrived alongside a promise that the developer is hard at work delivering additional improvements. “We’re continuing to investigate issues and expect to have more patches throughout the week,” Wildlight said in a prepared statement. Based on typical live-service development cycles, bug fixes are likely the only thing players can expect in the next several days, as more comprehensive changes such as balancing tweaks will ostensibly require additional time to finalize. The new client update arrived shortly after Highguard drew major attention on Steam, peaking at over 97,200 concurrent players on Valve’s storefront.
We’re continuing to investigate issues and expect to have more patches throughout the week.
Based on 24-hour activity data, Highguard ranked as the 16th most-played game on Steam as of January 27. The hero shooter did not appear in the U.S. top 20 lists on the PlayStation or Xbox Stores, which offer relative rankings but do not disclose player counts. On Steam, Highguard holds a 31.12% positive review rating as of the early morning hours (ET) on January 27, with Valve classifying the response as “Mostly Negative.” Reviewers have cited a range of issues, from technical problems with audio and Highguard‘s aggressive kernel-level anti-cheat system to broader concerns about structure and pacing.
Some early adopters on Steam have described firefights as the most compelling and well-executed aspect of Highguard, while arguing that such encounters are too infrequent. Instead, combat is interspersed with stretches of collecting chests and resources, and waiting for the Shieldbreaker to spawn. These periods of downtime have led some players to speculate that Highguard may have originally been conceived as a different type of game before shifting to its current 3v3 format. Some fans suggest the experience might benefit from a more traditional deathmatch approach, without the layers of additional mechanics that dilute firefights. Others argue that simply increasing team sizes could improve pacing, noting that the maps feel too large for matches limited to two three-player squads.
First Highguard Content Update Coming in February 2026
Unlike balancing changes, overhauling the core gameplay loop to address concerns about activity distribution would be a significantly larger undertaking for Wildlight Entertainment. There is currently no indication the California-based developer is considering such a revision. The studio has recently shared a 12-month roadmap for its free-to-play hero shooter, with the first major content update—dubbed “Episode 2″—scheduled to release in two parts over the course of February and March 2026. Part 1 will introduce a new playable Warden, mount, and map, along with a full-fledged Ranked Mode. Part 2, planned for March, is set to deliver a new raid tool and base type.
- Released
-
January 26, 2026
- Developer(s)
-
Wildlight Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
-
Wildlight Entertainment
- Multiplayer
-
Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
-
Full
