Highguard is not having a good time on Steam right now, having finally launched after a rocky debut at The Game Awards last month. The user reviews do not paint a great picture.
Things started out quite well, though, as the game hit 97,249 concurrent players on its launch day. That’s a respectable amount of people, especially when you consider the developers have said they don’t need a lot of players to make the game profitable. It’s sitting at about 50,000 players as I write this.
But, venture onto Steam proper and the user reviews are not kind. Right now, it has a “Mostly Negative” rating from just over 9,000 reviews.
One of the most common complains I’m seeing in the reviews is that the maps are far too large for the 3v3 gameplay because it means you spend a lot of time looking for people to shoot in the face. Other problems mentioned include blurry visuals, and a muddled gameplay loop where you capture objectives, shoot other players, farm resources, craft and more.
And there’s the usual performance complaints too.
But there are a few people defending it in the reviews, mostly mentioning that while it isn’t astonishing, there is fun to be had and that the game doesn’t deserve as much hatred as it is getting.
Speaking of that, Highguard’s unfortunate beginnings must be discussed. It was shown at the very end of The Game Awards, apparently at the behest of Geoff Keighley himself. Usually such a spot would be a massive boon to a developer, especially one debuting its game. Unfortunately, the trailer failed to impress and viewers were quick to turn on the game, viewing it as yet another free-to-play live-service game.
At this point, we have no idea how well the game is faring over on console. And really, it’s the next few weeks that will count. Either the reviews will be proven true and the players will quickly disperse, or it will surprise us and people will stick around. Best case scenario, it will gradually turn the reviews positive.
What’s it gonna be, folks? Crash and burn, or a happy turnaround of fortune?
