Highguard shuts down, issues refunds as developer closes doors

Less than a week after the free-to-play shooter Highguard permanently took its servers offline, players who spent money on the game are beginning to see automatic refunds. The hero shooter closed rapidly. Now, strong signs indicate its creator, Wildlight Entertainment, is shutting down entirely.

This potential closure follows mass layoffs that hit the studio shortly after the game launched.

PlayStation issues automatic refunds

Players on the PlayStation 5 subreddit began reporting on March 17 that Sony is automatically returning funds spent on the game’s battle pass and premium skins. Highguard was free to download, meaning these microtransactions were the only source of revenue during its brief lifespan.

It remains unclear if Microsoft and Valve will issue similar automatic refunds for players on Xbox and Steam.

The end of Wildlight Entertainment

The studio behind the game appears to be dissolving completely. Wildlight Entertainment recently took down its official website, and the company’s LinkedIn page now displays an error message. Co-founder Chad Grenier updated his profile to reflect that his time at the studio ends this month.

He posted a brief statement acknowledging the situation, noting that while the outcome was not what they hoped for, he remains proud of the team and what they built.

Reports indicate that the studio faced severe financial trouble when publisher funding was unexpectedly pulled after the game failed to find an audience at launch. This forced the developer to announce mass layoffs just weeks into the game’s lifecycle, eventually leading to the complete shutdown of the servers and the studio itself.

Via PureXbox