Highguard is out now following its high-profile showing at last month’s The Game Awards — and its developers have said a full year of post-launch content is already “deep in development.”
The free-to-play PvP raid shooter is live on PC, Xbox Series X and S, and PlayStation 5, with full crossplay. Development studio Wildlight is made up of former Apex Legends, Titanfall, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare staff, and promises “a new competitive structure that blends siege warfare and territory control in an evolving match where power levels escalate until only one base is left standing.”
Here’s how Highguard works, according to Wildlight:
Players step into the boots of Wardens, arcane gunslingers sent to fight for control of a mythical continent where magic, gunfire, and siege warfare collide:
- Teams of three select a unique base and fortify their defenses, then ride out across vast, uncharted lands to loot, harvest resources, and upgrade their gear while clashing with a rival Warden crew.
- As magical storms roll in, teams battle over the Shieldbreaker, a powerful sword required to breach enemy defenses. Carrying the Shieldbreaker to the opposing base triggers a full raid — forcing teams to attack, defend, adapt, and escalate in power as the match continues.
- Most of the time, victory doesn’t come with a single raid. When that happens, the enemy base shields repair, the siege tower dissipates, and the fight escalates as loot, gear, and weapons all upgrade in the field, and a new Shieldbreaker forms in a different location in the world. From there, the fight for control continues — until only one base is left standing.
Each Warden is built specifically for Highguard’s PvP Raid Mode. Wardens combine guns, raid tools, and arcane abilities, each designed to support raiding, destruction, defense, infiltration, resource acquisition, and open-world combat.
Mounts allow teams to move quickly across massive maps, fight on the move, and transport the Shieldbreaker. Magical abilities supplement combat, but Highguard is still a gun game at its core. Gunplay remains central, with abilities and tools adding tactical depth.
At launch, the game features a wide array of content: five large-scale maps, six distinct bases, eight Wardens, three mount types, ten weapons, three raid tools, eleven weapon and raid-tool mods, and a wide range of lootable items. More content will be added via seasonal updates.
Wildlight hadn’t said a word about Highguard since its announcement at The Game Awards, opting to launch it cold. Today, now the game is out in the wild, wildlight said it was built “with long-term play in mind.”
“Wildlight brings decades of experience operating live-service shooters at scale, applying those lessons to Highguard’s launch and beyond, with a full year of post-launch content already deep in development,” the developer said. “Highguard’s live service is built around Episodes — each lasting roughly two months and split into two parts — with new core content arriving each month throughout 2026, including content such as maps, bases, modes, Wardens, weapons, mounts, raid tools, and additional loot items.”
Core gameplay content — including new maps, bases, Wardens, and modes — will always be free, delivered through regular updates, with the first wave arriving in two weeks following launch, Wildlight insisted. The studio added that all in-game purchases are cosmetic only, direct purchase only, with no effect on gameplay and no loot boxes or RNG.
“Launch is a huge moment. But our team builds franchises that stand the test of time, and we’re in this for the long haul,” said Dusty Welch, co-founder and CEO of Wildlight. “Success for us is a healthy, growing global community that’s enjoying the game — and a team that’s energized by engaging with players and surprising them with new experiences over time.”
All players receive the Episode One War Chest free forever, featuring 44 items, including 11 legendary skins and emotes for Wardens, weapons, and mounts.
“We know there’s a lot of eyes on us after our Game Awards trailer debut, and today is finally the time to show the world what we mean by a PvP Raid Shooter. We built Highguard around a loop that doesn’t really exist anywhere else,” commented Chad Grenier, co-founder and game director at Wildlight. “Every match is about escalation: fortifying, venturing out, clashing, then mounting coordinated raids and defenses until only one base is left standing.”
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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