‘Highguard’ Developer Wildlight Entertainment Lays Off Multiple Staffers Less Than a Month After New Game’s Launch

“Highguard” maker Wildlight Entertainment has laid off multiple members of its staff less than a month after the release of its debut video game.

“Today we made an incredibly difficult decision to part ways with a number of our team members while keeping a core group of developers to continue innovating on and supporting the game,” Wildlight said in a statement Wednesday. “We’re proud of the team, talent, and the product we’ve created together. We’re also grateful for players who gave the game a shot, and those who continue to be a part of our community.”

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The number of staff impacted by the layoffs was not disclosed and a representative for Wildlight declined Variety‘s request for further comment.

Founded by CEO Dusty Welch and game director Chad Grenier, Wildlight Entertainment is made up of roughly 100 employees, the majority of which previously worked with Grenier and Welch at Electronic Arts’ Respawn on “Apex Legends.” The indie studio was created amid the pandemic and all staffers at the company were exclusively working on PvP raid shooter “Highguard,” which launched Jan. 26 as a free-to-play title across PC, Xbox Series X and S and PlayStation 5.

“Highguard” is described as having “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.”

The game has been closely compared to Blizzard’s successful “Overwatch” franchise and the now-shuttered PlayStation title “Concord” (which was pulled two weeks after launch in September 2024). And while “Highguard” launched with a three-person-team structure, rather than the 5v5 model utilized by “Overwatch 2” and “Concord,” it quickly added the five-person-team option in response to fan demand.

“I think we do have a very unique game that is unlike anything else out there on the market, and we’re really excited about it,” Grenier told Variety at a press preview event for “Highguard” on Jan. 22.

“What we’re confident in is that we’re not going anywhere. We’re not going away,” Welch said at the time. “We as a team have a lot of experience in building franchises that have staying power. And this one, as Chad alluded to, we have a year’s worth of content that’s near completion that is going to engage an audience for quite a bit of time. So we’re excited to be able to bring that. We have the experience, but that said, we’re humbled, and we hope people love this — but we’re ready to engage with them.”