Jason Schreier has shared new details about the making of Highguard, and the truth is simpler and more unhappy than you think.
Two weeks ago, we found out that Highguard received funding from TenCent, but Schreier verified this was no scheme to hide TenCent’s involvement.
Highguard developer Wildlight chose to keep the game secret themselves, because this staff of mostly former Respawn developers thought they could recreate Apex Legends’ success.
Wildlight’s founders left Respawn thinking that they could share revenue among themselves making a hit by themselves. Schreier confirmed that Wildlight really was independently owned. TenCent provided funding as an investor, not owner.
As players surmised, Wildlight failed to beta test Highguard properly by bringing the public in. As for the layoffs, TenCent reportedly pulled funding because they didn’t meet key metrics in time, in this case, the player numbers.
Today, less than 20 people are at Wildlight hoping to get Highguard to rebound. We wish the best for this staff and hope they can find success in this or any other projects in the future.