Highguard game developer lays off staff just two weeks after release

"The developer of a multiplayer shooter given top billing at The Game Awards has laid off multiple staff members just two weeks after its release. Despite being made by a team of games industry veterans who worked on successful titles such as Call of Duty, Apex Legends and Titanfall, the free-to-play game struggled to retain players since it launched in January. In a statement, developer Wildlight Entertainment confirmed it had "made an incredibly difficult decision to part ways with a number of our team members"."

"When it finally launched for PC, PlayStation and Xbox on 26 January, hands-on press previews largely painted a positive picture, saying the game offered a unique take on its genre. It initially attracted just under 100,000 players on PC and about 380,000 viewers on streaming site Twitch, according to data-tracking website SteamDB. But those numbers have dropped sharply since, with the game reaching just 3,600 concurrent PC users on the day the layoffs were announced."

"However, it has retained a core base of dedicated players, and its developers previously said they had a year's worth of updates mapped out. Wildlight Entertainment It's been suggested that Highguard faced an uphill battle after the backlash to its premiere and the lack of publicity as its launch approached. Both games were hero shooters attempting to draw players away from popular, established rivals such as Apex Legends and Overwatch, which launched a huge reboot this month."

Highguard is a free-to-play multiplayer hero shooter developed by Wildlight Entertainment, assembled from industry veterans who worked on titles like Call of Duty, Apex Legends and Titanfall. The studio laid off multiple staff members two weeks after the game launched on 26 January across PC, PlayStation and Xbox. The game's Game Awards world premiere received a muted reaction and critics and fans said the trailer failed to explain gameplay or distinguishing features. Limited marketing and a short-notice launch compounded visibility problems. Hands-on previews were largely positive, but player numbers fell sharply, though a dedicated core remained and updates were planned.

Read at www.bbc.com