- Highguard studio Wildlight is not afraid of a Concord-like ending despite player comparisons.
- The studio believes these comparisons don’t make sense because the game is free to play.
- The team is confident about its future and believes it has total control over the shooter.
Highguard is 2026’s first controversial launch. It saw a lot of drama ever since being announced at the end of The Game Awards show last year, leading many fans to suspect that the game would turn out to be yet another Concord-level disaster.
This led to a lot of comparisons with Sony’s failed live-service project. However, a senior Highguard studio executive bluntly shuts them down, saying that Wildlight was not afraid to ‘make a Concord’ and did not fear a similar ending despite all the backlash.
Why it matters: The studio behind Highguard does not fear comparisons with Concord but argues that both games are quite different in their model and situations in the first place. Regardless, the player reception has been quite a mixed bag so far.
In an interview with IGN France, VP of product and publishing Jason Torfin explains that these Concord comparisons are useless because Wildlight’s project is free to play and requires no barrier to play.
The game is also being led by some of the developers behind Respawn’s Titanfall 2 and Apex Legends, industry veterans who already have a lot of experience in the live-service genre.
We’re not afraid to make a Concord. Our game is free-to-play. You don’t have to pay anything to play it.
-Jason Torfin, VP of Product and Publishing at Wildlight Entertainment.
Unlike Apex Legends, Jason claims Wildlight is prepared with a concrete roadmap and plans to continue adding more content and polishing Highguard moving forward. He believes the studio is in ‘total control’ of the game despite what the critics have said.
Highguard’s launch has also turned out to be more reasonable compared to Concord. The game saw over 97K peak active players on Steam hours after launch, although with a ‘mostly negative’ rating at the time of writing.
Highguard needs to maintain a big enough audience and offset negative reviews in the future for long-term success.
Do you think Highguard deserves to be compared with Concord? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋
How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔
Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
Join Our Community
