Wildlight Entertainment creative and design director Jason McCord has defended Highguard’s appearance as the final game announcement in The Game Awards.
Highguard literally took everyone by surprise when it was shown in last year’s The Game Awards, but gamers did not necessarily like it. Rumors ran rampant that Geoff Keighley gave the spot to Wildlight, with would usually be worth six figures, for free.
The game came out to a mixed reception, but a few days in, the backlash to the game received its own backlash. The community itself started raising questions if they were being unnecessarily harsh to new games, especially in live service.
In an interview with Dexerto, Jason McCord said this about their appearance:
The most important thing for us as a live service game… is to get eyeballs on your game.
Wildlight seems to have done enough right to earn fans and a second chance, which is oddly unusual for new video games nowadays. They already launched a patch that fixes performance and adds a highly requested 5v5 mode.
It would certainly be a pleasant surprise if Wildight’s Highguard ends up becoming one of the highlights of 2026.