Highguard: 5 things it needs to improve on

In just a few weeks, Highguard has gained plenty of fans and detractors for various reasons. Developed by Wildlight Entertainment and free to play on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and PC since January 26, the 3v3 PvP free-to-play raid shooter has players become ‘wardens’ in order to loot and shoot until one team wins a match.

It is a fun time, but fans have been vocal in their dissatisfaction with Highguard. This includes poor art design in some maps, boring weapons, and limited PC graphics options. Now Episode 2, the game’s first big update, has been released. Here are five more things Highguard can improve on.

Along with many players’ experiences, I’ve had moments when joining a match failed, or when we got in-game, the matchmaking left a lot to be desired. Some have slower connections, resulting in disconnects, or you’re left waiting up to 10 minutes for another team to be found.

This is a straightforward request: Highguard needs some big improvements in how it finds matches and matches players with their skill base, internet speeds, and more. Considering some developers come from Respawn Entertainment, known for the Titanfall games, there’s no excuse as to why matchmaking feels below-par in Highguard.

Collecting Vesper, Highguard’s in-game currency, feels like a chore. Before you consider ways of defeating the opposing team, you’re thinking about where Vesper is in order to buy ammo, armour, and more. It gets to the point where Highguard feels like a farming simulator, instead of an online PvP raid shooter.

A main improvement would be to raise the amount of Vesper collected – this way, players can stock up quicker without it feeling like a chore, in a similar vein to collecting gold in Fortnite. Highguard is all about defeating the other team in a variety of ways across several maps – it’s not about farming, and it shouldn’t be. If this one improvement is made, it would result in a more enjoyable game overall.

It’s a strange omission that you can’t look back on your previous playthrough stats. With eight wardens to choose from, each with their unique abilities, as well as the different weapons to use, it would be a big help if you could see who you’re using the most, as well as the amount of loot and ammo we’re collecting and spending so far.

It would be a great way to build on your skills, giving you a clear structure for which wardens and weapons are working and which you should leave well alone. This could also be great for when matchmaking with other players, helping the game itself when setting up a match.

Since Highguard’s launch on January 26, players could only join in 3v3 matches. It felt too small given the size of the available maps. On February 2, Wildlight raised this to 5v5, which has made plenty of matches more varied and fun, but the developers can go even further.

12v12 matches could ramp up the action and excitement of what Highguard brings. We’ve seen Dota 2 and others do similar, and they’ve benefited hugely. The sheer scope of Rivermark and Summit can certainly hold 24 players at once. While this may terrify Wildlight, considering the poor matchmaking and disconnects, raising the player amount even more could build on Highguard’s fun niche even more. 

In 2026, players want to follow along with a story that can make them more invested in what they’re playing. Free-to-play games like Fortnite and PUBG have compelling narratives that have opened the door for some unique collabs, like The Simpsons and South Park. Even Call of Duty: Warzone has a simple story that players keep up with.

But in Highguard, there’s nothing. You know the basics of what you need to do in every match, which is to play as a warden and secure your stronghold with a team. It would be great to establish several story beats that define who these wardens are and what the landscape is all about.

Although we haven’t reached a month with Highguard being available, there’s a lot of promise. The game is fun to play, with great weapons and huge maps that bring plenty of variety to the shooter. But there’s a lot that desperately needs another look, from the Vesper farming, the poor matchmaking, and a lack of narrative.

In hindsight, it’s clear that Highguard had a deadline to meet, and regardless of where the team at Wildlight was, the game was going to be out on January 26, no matter what. In the sea of free-to-play games, Highguard has a rare niche where players want it to be good. Hopefully, we’ll see some of the above improvements sooner, rather than later.