Highguard launches to brutal Steam reviews — a disastrous debut for the new PvP shooter

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Highguard recently launched on Steam, but the reception hasn’t been good. Players are leaving overwhelmingly negative reviews, citing problems with bugs, gameplay balance, and questioning the game’s premature release. It’s a disappointing start for the new PvP shooter.

Following the negative reaction to its debut at last year’s Game Awards, Highguard needed to make a strong impression. Many anticipated a large marketing campaign to revitalize interest in the game after its initial reveal.

The developer largely stayed quiet leading up to today’s launch. They only started sharing updates a few days before the game became available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

Highguard is a competitive team-based shooter where two teams of three players battle it out. What makes it unique is the mix of classic shooting action with exciting mounted combat – you’ll be fighting on horseback and using other fantastical abilities.

How players are reacting to Highguard’s release

Surprisingly, I’m hoping Highguard does well. Having more games like this is positive, and it’s great to see titles that experiment with mixing different game types.

Ever since the game was first announced, it’s faced a lot of negativity, with many people seeming critical of it. Geoff Keighley appeared to be the only one actively promoting it before its release today. Now that it’s finally available on Steam, that negative reaction hasn’t changed much.

Highguard has received a very negative response on Steam, with an “Overwhelmingly Negative” rating just hours after its release. While many reviews are from players who haven’t spent much time with the game, the issues they’re reporting are similar across the board.

The biggest complaint about the game is that its maps are too big for teams of three, which can make gameplay feel slow and lacking in action. Some players also feel the game doesn’t offer anything unique enough to make it worth playing.

As an analyst, I’m watching Highguard closely, and while it’s free-to-play which gives it room to grow past initial impressions, the start hasn’t been particularly strong. It was already facing challenges to gain traction in the shooter market, and early reactions aren’t helping. I expect some of the more impulsive feedback will settle down over time, but it’s not the launch we hoped to see.

This is just one perspective, and we’re still collecting all the reviews. However, many critics have already praised the game’s central gameplay and how well its different features work together.

The developers aren’t currently prioritizing a huge number of players. They seem to be concentrating on creating a smaller, loyal community, and that’s perfectly fine.

It’s still too early to say if Highguard will always be compared to Concord 2.0, but it’s off to a much stronger start. Highguard recently had almost 100,000 players online at the same time on Steam, which is significantly more than Concord’s peak of just 697 players.

Releasing a competitive shooter game in 2026 will be challenging on its own. Releasing one that doesn’t feel complete is almost certain to fail. Now, Highguard’s success hinges on their ability to quickly address the current problems and prevent further decline.

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2026-01-27 01:09