‘Highguard’: Wildlight Founders on How Their Debut Game Is Not Like ‘Concord’ or ‘Overwatch’

When “Highguard” was first revealed at The Game Awards last month, the overwhelming response from gamers to the trailer for the upcoming PvP raid shooter was, “Haven’t we seen this somewhere before?”

To those critics’ credit, the founders of “Highguard” indie studio Wildlight Entertainment (which includes veterans of “Apex Legends,” “Titanfall” and “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare”) understand the quick comparisons made to the “Overwatch” franchise and the now-defunct “Concord,” but reassure that when “Highguard” launches Monday, the differences between the titles will be immediately apparent.

“I think we do have a very unique game that is unlike anything else out there on the market, and we’re really excited about it,” Wildlight co-founder and game director Chad Grenier told Variety at a press preview event for “Highguard” on Jan. 22. “Our trailer didn’t highlight that well, and we’ll own that. But at the end of the day, we’re really excited just to get the game out on Monday and let it speak for itself, because I think that there is quite a bit there, as you’ve seen today, that is unexpected and new and refreshing. And there’s a lot of innovation in the game that wasn’t conveyed well in that one trailer.”

Wildlight co-founder and CEO Dusty Welch wishes “the sentiment had been a little bit better,” but notes that, as a result, “there’s a lot of awareness for the game and for people to show up on 1/26 and play it.”

So how exactly is it different?

“‘Concord’ specifically, they were not a free game,” Grenier said. “So one thing that we’re hopeful for is that being a free game, people will show up and see that our game is actually locked on, and stick around. We can grow that player base over time.”

“Highguard” also features three-person teams competing, rather than the 5v5 model utilized by “Overwatch 2” and “Concord.” “It’s 3v3, so it doesn’t take hundreds of people to start a match, which is in our favor,” Grenier said.

Available Monday as of 10 am P.T. across PC, Xbox Series X and S and PlayStation 5 with full cross-play enabled, “Highguard” is described as “a new competitive structure that blends siege warfare and territory control in an evolving match where power levels escalate until only one base is left standing.”

Per Wildlight’s description, “Players step into the boots of Wardens, arcane gunslingers sent to fight for control of a mythical continent where magic, gunfire, and siege warfare collide: Teams of three select a unique base and fortify their defenses, then ride out across vast, uncharted lands to loot, harvest resources, and upgrade their gear while clashing with a rival Warden crew. As magical storms roll in, teams battle over the Shieldbreaker, a powerful sword required to breach enemy defenses. Carrying the Shieldbreaker to the opposing base triggers a full raid—forcing teams to attack, defend, adapt, and escalate in power as the match continues.”

While Blizzard’s “Overwatch” franchise is approaching its 10-year anniversary, “Concord” lasted less than two weeks after its August 2024 launch before PlayStation shut the game down due to poor sales and very low player numbers. The “Highguard” devs have high hopes of following in the footsteps of the former, rather than the latter.

“What we’re confident in is that we’re not going anywhere. We’re not going away,” Welch said. “We as a team have a lot of experience in building franchises that have staying power. And this one, as Chad alluded to, we have a year’s worth of content that’s near completion that is going to engage an audience for quite a bit of time. So we’re excited to be able to bring that. We have the experience, but that said, we’re humbled, and we hope people love this — but we’re ready to engage with them.”

At launch, Wildlight says “Highguard” will include five large-scale maps, six distinct bases, eight Wardens, three mount types, ten weapons, three raid tools, eleven weapon and raid-tool mods, and a wide range of lootable items. While these playable features won’t be all that’s available for very long, they were painstakingly selected by Wildlight to be the starting lineup.

“We just prototype a ton. We’ve got eight characters at launch and there’s 30 on the cutting room floor,” lead designer Mohammad Alavi said. “So that’s really what it comes down to, which is iterating, and basically the cream rises to the top, is the best I can describe it. You naturally find the ones that are more fun, more effective, and just speak to people more both on a like thematic and esthetic level, but also on gameplay level. There’s no magic to it, it really is just hard work and just playing, playing, playing, playing, until you find what works.”

The live service offering will be updated through “episodes,” each set to last roughly two months and split up into two parts. Wildlight promises new core gameplay content will launch each month throughout 2026 (the first coming in two weeks) and “will always be free,” including maps, bases, modes, Wardens, weapons, mounts, raid tools, and additional loot items.

“We wanted to build a store that we want to see ourselves as players,” Wildlight game writer and vice president of product and publishing said. “So cosmetic only, direct purchase only, no RNG, no loot boxes, no pay for power, no pay to win, and everything in the store is $9 to $20 at launch. There’s nothing more than $20 in the store.”

Making a monetization limitations promise up front is a bold move as a small indie studio, but that is one way in which Wildlight plans to differentiate itself from other video game developers.

Made up of roughly 100 employees, the majority of which previously worked with Grenier and Welch at Electronic Arts’ Respawn on “Apex Legends,” Wildlight was founded amid the pandemic and has been quietly working on “Highguard” ever since.

“My experience has always been on the development side, and so I’ve worked alongside many of these people, some of them for over 20 years,” Grenier said. “We understand each other. It’s a lot like a sports team. When new teams come together, often, there’s not the right chemistry, and it takes time to build that. I would say that’s not the case for us. We’re sort of like a well-oiled team that’s in the championship phase.”

Welch is particularly excited by Wildlight’s mission of “building a publishing capability and publishing arm” to grow its indie business, while the priority remains exclusively on updating “Highguard” rather than developing other games, or finding ways to adapt “Highguard.’

“The sky’s the limit when building a new IP. But quite honestly, I feel like some of these opportunities out there for episodic or streaming or more traditional opportunities are secondary,” Welch said. “We have a job to do right now, which is surprise and delight and continue to engage fanbase. And that takes all of our time to do that really well, and I want to make sure that we are committed to doing that. That’s job number one. Should we do that, and should fans want more, then there’ll be endless opportunities to extend franchise out, but right now, we’ve got a great opportunity and responsibility.”