Highguard Boss issues statement about the game's player count

In a recent interview with Polygon, Highguard director Chad Grenier said the number of players “doesn't matter” to developer Wildlight Entertainment. Instead, Grenier says player happiness is the true measure Wildlight wants Highguard to succeed.

A new multiplayer raid shooter Highguard has had a rather shaky start. Highguard made its debut at The Game Awards 2025, where it was revealed as the show's “one more thing” announcement, a spot usually reserved for reveals from high-profile developers like Capcom and Naughty Dog. A report in the following weeks confirmed that Geoff Keighley had indeed offered the place to Highguards developer for free, and while Wildlight Entertainment originally planned to shadow-release the game, it couldn't bring the opportunity to get it in front of the masses. Wildlight went radio silent after Highguards announcement, but the game launched as planned on January 26, where it was met with a mixed reception from players.

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Highguard review

Wildlight Entertainment's debut Highguard is an exciting mix of other shooters that could become your next multiplayer obsession.

Highguard's director says player numbers “don't matter” as much as player happiness

Polygon's Austin Manchester recently interviewed some of the key developers behind it Highguard. One of those developers was Chad Grenier, a co-founder and studio head of Wildlight Entertainment, and Highguards game manager. In the closing moments of the interview write-up, Polygon says that “what's most important” for Wildlight is trying to create a game that “people love and become a part of,” as opposed to achieving a high number of players. Grenier's full statement reads:

“Whether it gets a thousand people or a hundred million people, it doesn't matter. What matters most is that the game is loved by the people who played it.”

Highguard's player count has steadily declined since launch

Date	Highguard 24 Hour Peak Player Count
January 26	97,249
January 27	39,832
January 28	19,294
January 29	12,748
January 30	11,517
January 31	15,147
February 1	13.119
February 2	~10,000

According to tracking site SteamDB, Highguard debuted on Steam with a peak day of 97,249 players. Of course, these numbers only apply to those who play Highguard on PC via Steam, and don't take into account the number of players on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. HighguardPlayer numbers have steadily declined since launch day, starting with a sharp drop on January 27th that peaked at 39,832 players. This marked a 59% drop in players. Three days later (January 30), HighguardThe peak number of players on Steam was just 11,517, down 88% since launch day.

This past weekend has, however Highguard experienced a small increase in the number of players. Saturday, January 31 at HighguardThe 24-hour cap rose to 15,147 players. This small increase coincided with the release of several significant updates that brought various performance improvements and tweaks to the game. These updates also added an experimental 5v5 mode, which aimed to address one of the most common criticisms surrounding Highguardthat the game's maps felt too big for 3v3 lobby sizes. Via an X post on February 2, Highguards developers confirmed that this 5v5 mode will be a permanent feature of the game going forward.

But despite the positive reception Wildlight Entertainment has received after its decision to add 5v5 Highguardthe game's player count has started to decrease again. February 2 marked Highguardlowest number of players to date, with around 10,000 people playing simultaneously via Steam. As of February 3rd at 12:00 PM ET, there are only 4,945 players on Highguardmarking a nearly 95% drop in player base since then Highguardlaunched on January 26.

Who is that character?

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Who is that character?

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On the other side of the coin, Highguards critical reception has technically improved quite a bit since its debut last week. Within hours after Highguard launch, it had received a “Mostly Negative” Steam user review score. Highguards user score now has a “mixed” rating with over 35,000 reviews, of which 15,468 are positive.