It was easy to count out Highguard and assume that a wave of layoffs at studio Wildlight Entertainment and a non-functioning official website spelled the end of the raid shooter, but the game appears to be back in the saddle with a new content drop coming this week.
Per the official Highguard X account, players will be able to choose a new Base, utilize a new Raid Tool, and spend cash on new cosmetics and a mount.
The new Base is Cloudreach, which houses a large airship and a deck that gives defenders vantage points for sniping. The Lockpick Raid Tool temporarily disables windows and doors for enemies, allowing teammates to access them; an upgraded Lockpick also casts an energy field on lockpicked doors and windows that damages enemies and gives teammates a speed boost.
New goodies to buy from the store include the owlbear-like Moonbruin mount and bundles with "Iron Vigil-themed cosmetics." Wildlight also confirmed that it's also working on the game's subsequent patch, which will include a new game mode "focused on the Raid experience" along with balance changes.
After Wildlight let go of an unknown number of employees last week, a "core group of developers" remains at the studio to support and update Highguard. The studio previously stated in its (now-inaccessible) website that it was "fully funded," and a recent report claimed that Chinese company Tencent was the company's "lead financial backer."
The official Highguard website has been unavailable since Tuesday, though a developer on the game's official Discord server (via Kotaku) stated that the site "basically needs to be transferred and simplified." The developer added: "Low priority atm (reputational damage already done). Now we just need to focus on delivering updates and content to improve."
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Per the official Highguard X account, players will be able to choose a new Base, utilize a new Raid Tool, and spend cash on new cosmetics and a mount.
The new Base is Cloudreach, which houses a large airship and a deck that gives defenders vantage points for sniping. The Lockpick Raid Tool temporarily disables windows and doors for enemies, allowing teammates to access them; an upgraded Lockpick also casts an energy field on lockpicked doors and windows that damages enemies and gives teammates a speed boost.
New goodies to buy from the store include the owlbear-like Moonbruin mount and bundles with "Iron Vigil-themed cosmetics." Wildlight also confirmed that it's also working on the game's subsequent patch, which will include a new game mode "focused on the Raid experience" along with balance changes.
After Wildlight let go of an unknown number of employees last week, a "core group of developers" remains at the studio to support and update Highguard. The studio previously stated in its (now-inaccessible) website that it was "fully funded," and a recent report claimed that Chinese company Tencent was the company's "lead financial backer."
The official Highguard website has been unavailable since Tuesday, though a developer on the game's official Discord server (via Kotaku) stated that the site "basically needs to be transferred and simplified." The developer added: "Low priority atm (reputational damage already done). Now we just need to focus on delivering updates and content to improve."
Source