Highguard is out now after a high-profile displaying at The Sport Awards final month. The builders say {that a} full yr of post-release content material is already “in intense growth.”
The free-to-play PvP raid shooter is obtainable on PC, Xbox Sequence X and S, and PlayStation 5 with full cross-play help. Improvement studio Wildlight, made up of former workers from Apex Legends, Titanfall, and Name of Responsibility: Fashionable Warfare, guarantees “a brand new aggressive construction that blends siege warfare and territory management in evolving matches that escalate energy ranges till there’s just one base left.”
In accordance with Wildlight, here is how Excessive Guard works:
Gamers step into the boots of the Warden, an esoteric gunslinger despatched to combat for management of a legendary continent the place magic, gunfire, and siege warfare collide.
- Groups of three select their very own bases, fortify their defenses, and traverse huge unexplored lands as they conflict with rival warden crews, plundering, harvesting sources, and upgrading their tools.
- Amid a storm of magic, groups battle for the Protect Breaker, a robust sword wanted to interrupt via enemy defenses. Bringing the Protect Breaker to your opponent’s base triggers a full-on assault, forcing your crew to assault, defend, adapt, and develop in energy because the match continues.
- Most often, victory doesn’t are available one raid. When that occurs, the battle intensifies as enemy base shields are repaired, siege towers disappear, loot, tools, and weapons are all upgraded within the discipline, and new defend breakers kind in numerous elements of the world. From there, the battle for management continues till just one base stays.
Every Warden is constructed particularly for Excessive Guard’s PvP raid mode. Wardens mix weapons, raiding instruments, and esoteric skills, every designed to help raiding, destruction, protection, infiltration, useful resource acquisition, and open-world fight.
Mounts permit your crew to rapidly transfer throughout huge maps, combat on the go, and transport Protect Breakers. Magical skills complement fight, however the coronary heart of Excessive Guard remains to be a gun sport. Gunplay stays the main focus, with skills and instruments including tactical depth.
At launch, the sport contains a variety of content material. 5 giant maps, 6 totally different bases, 8 wardens, 3 mounted sorts, 10 weapons, 3 raid instruments, 11 weapon and raid device mods, and a variety of loot gadgets. Extra content material will probably be added via seasonal updates.
Wildlight hasn’t stated something about Highguard since its announcement at The Sport Awards, choosing a chilly launch. The sport is at the moment accessible to the general public, however Wildwright stated it was constructed “with long-term play in thoughts.”
“Wildlight brings a long time of expertise working live-service shooters at scale and has utilized these classes for the reason that launch of Highguard, with post-launch content material already in growth for a yr,” the developer stated. “The Excessive Guard reside service is constructed round episodes, with every episode lasting roughly two months and divided into two elements. New core content material will arrive month-to-month all through 2026, together with content material equivalent to maps, bases, modes, wardens, weapons, mounts, raid instruments, extra loot gadgets, and extra.”
Core gameplay content material equivalent to new maps, bases, guards, and modes will all the time be free and delivered via common updates, with the primary wave arriving two weeks after launch, Wildlight claimed. The studio added that every one in-game purchases are floor solely, direct purchases solely, don’t have an effect on gameplay, and don’t embody loot packing containers or RNG.
“Launching is a giant second, however our crew is constructing a franchise that can stand the check of time, and we’re on this for the long run,” stated Dusty Welch, co-founder and CEO of Wildlight. “Success for us means a wholesome and rising world group of people that get pleasure from our video games, and a crew that’s energized by participating with our gamers and stunning them with new experiences over time.”
All gamers will obtain the Episode 1 Battle Chest, free eternally, containing 44 gadgets, together with 11 legendary skins and Warden, weapon, and automobile emotes.
“We all know there’s been numerous consideration on us since our Sport Awards trailer debut, and as we speak it is lastly our time to point out the world what a PvP raid shooter is all about. We constructed Highguard round a loop that does not exist anyplace else,” commented Wildlight co-founder and sport director Chad Grenier. “Each sport is an escalation: construct forts, go on adventures, conflict, then launch coordinated raids and defenses till just one base stays.”
Wesley is videogameaddicted’s Director of Information. Discover @wyp100 on Twitter. Wesley could be reached at wesley_yinpoole@videogameaddicted.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.