PARIS: Multiplayer shooter game Highguard will be shuting down, its developer has said, closing the book on a title that launched to great fanfare but failed to find a player base.
The game's short life underscores the massive challenges facing creators in today's market, with players' expectations sky-high and reception often polarising around adoration or contempt.
Developed by a high-powered team, many of whom had worked on 2019 smash hit Apex Legends, Highguard was first unveiled at December's Game Awards in Los Angeles and had only been available to play since late January.
"Today we're sharing difficult news. We have made the decision to permanently shut down Highguard on March 12," creators Wildlight Entertainment posted on X late Tuesday.
"Despite the passion and hard work of our team, we have not been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term."
Highguard was launched as a free-to-play title, which allows gamers to jump in at no cost in hopes of making money by selling them content like upgrades or cosmetic items later on.
Despite a surge of interest on its January 26 release, with around 100,000 players logging on via the Steam PC gaming platform, participation quickly waned.
Only around 500 people played on any day this week, according to Steam data.
'Awkward'
Highguard was also available on the XBox Series and Playstation 5 consoles, with players there not included in the Steam statistics.
Critics highlighted the complexity of the game's mechanics as one reason gamers were quickly turned off.
The title's "biggest problem is that it's a mashup of too many ideas" drawn from other games, reviewer Ford James wrote on gaming website Polygon, criticising the "awkward pacing, despite the foundational first-person shooter elements clearly showing the expertise of the team behind the game".
Although Wildlight moved quickly to try and staunch the bleeding, including by adding a 5v5 mode to the 3v3 matches available on launch, most players had already settled their opinion in the early days.
The studio was quickly forced to lay off much of its development team, with only a skeleton staff remaining to maintain Highguard.
Developers promised one final update before turning off the lights.
"We hope you'll jump in with us one more time to show your support and get those final great matches in while we still can," they posted on X. – AFP
