Ex Highguard dev pins its failure on being “the sweatiest model” of a staff shooter

Former Highguard senior stage designer Alex Graner admits his “greatest worry” got here true when the squad shooter did not hold gamers round on account of what he noticed as an excessive amount of concentrate on the aggressive scene. In a extremely aggressive area the place multiplayer video games like Counter-Strike 2, PUBG, Apex Legends, and Arc Raiders dominate the Steam charts, Highguard was going to need to hit onerous to make any impression. That did not occur, and inside just some weeks Graner and lots of of his co-workers had already been laid off.

Talking on the Quad Injury podcast, Graner discusses his considerations in the course of the improvement of Highguard. “I can solely communicate to my aspect of it as a stage designer, however once I joined [Wildlight], it was attempting to determine this new, bold recreation, and this staff is at all times pushing the boundaries,” he says. “You do not try to create one thing that does not work out, but it surely occurs, sadly. All through improvement, we actually leaned into the aggressive aspect of it, and that was at all times one in every of my greatest fears as a participant.”

Graner, who beforehand labored as a stage designer on each Apex Legends and Battlefield 6 earlier than becoming a member of Wildlight in 2024, says Highguard’s core mode “continuously advanced” in the course of the improvement course of. Nevertheless, he maintains that “Highguard’s greatest difficulty was simply that it leaned too far into the aggressive scene. That was at all times my greatest worry once we determined to go full-in on 3v3.” You’ll be able to hearken to his feedback beneath, ranging from the six-minute mark.

“3v3 duos is at all times the sweatiest model of something like battle royale, goal modes, wingman, it, you identify it. It requires such a excessive depth of communication together with your staff, and staff play, that it would not depart a lot room for casualness. I feel that was the most important factor that turned a whole lot of gamers off Highguard.

He factors to the “actually large highlight” placed on Highguard by its Recreation Awards displaying, saying that put further stress to promote individuals on it instantly. “It’s worthwhile to hook individuals [in] recreation one. Apex had this large success as a result of battle royales have been sort of an up-and-coming mode. It was very easy to know after you performed one recreation, and it is very easy to elucidate to your good friend, ‘Hey, simply be the final squad surviving, that is it.”

Conversely, Highguard is much more sophisticated. “Highguard has all these totally different guidelines and levels, it is like, ‘Oh, you need to loot, now we have got to chase this goal, now we have now to plant this goal, now it is time beyond regulation… It has all these guidelines, which I feel works at a very excessive stage, however when gamers are first coming in it is quite a bit to understand.” Wildlight’s new Raid Rush mode is likely to be the reply to that complexity, however for a lot of of its devs it is too little, too late.

“On prime of all that, as a result of it was 3v3, that sort of recreation simply requires high-skill motion and capturing, which is already a fairly excessive [bar to] entry as nicely,” Graner continues. “So in case you simply have just a few unhealthy video games or your teammates aren’t sticking collectively, you are simply going to get rolled, and it is very onerous to 1v2 in our recreation. It is all designed to be a team-based shooter,” he concludes. “I feel that was the most important factor. Folks simply sort of turned it off as a result of they did not have the staff.”

Graner, who was at The Recreation Awards, says he did not know that the sport was occurring final, solely that Highguard can be introduced “sooner or later in the course of the present.” He provides, “A variety of the staff was there and celebrating, and folks have been like, ‘Do not take a look at the feedback on-line.’ I used to be like, ‘Oh, is it unhealthy?'” He compares it to the preliminary reveal of the primary Titanfall, which acquired a considerably lukewarm reception on account of its multiplayer-only nature and low map depend.

“I heard about Respawn ‘trigger I beloved the Infinity Struggle staff, so once I came upon that was the core of that group, that instantly had my consideration and I did not actually pay a lot consideration to the net sense of it.” He says he purchased an Xbox One simply to play it, and instantly fell in love. “I simply ignored all of the sentiment, I simply sort of shaped my very own opinion. Clearly that is a lot tougher nowadays. Everybody’s chronically on-line, it is onerous to flee these echo chambers, so it may be brutal on the market.”