Can We Stop Dunking on Highguard Before It's Even Out, Please?

On December 11, 2025, Highguard was revealed astatine The Game Awards. A PvP “raid shooter” from immoderate of the creators down Apex Legends and Titanfall, Highguard was admittedly somewhat of a astonishment arsenic the past uncover of Geoff Keighley’s amusement successful December, which has typically been reserved for highly-anticipated, single-player games specified arsenic Naughty Dog’s adjacent project, Intergalactic, oregon the adjacent Mass Effect. Rather than a big-budget RPG, Highguard’s trailer displayed a multiplayer crippled rooted successful a premix of phantasy and sci-fi, with SMG-wielding heroes riding horses into conflict and magical spears hurled into grounded enemies by floating characters. “A caller breed of shooter” flashed crossed the surface arsenic its Overwatch-by-way-of-Concord enactment played out.

The online absorption to this trailer has not been kind. Type “Highguard” into YouTube, and you’ll beryllium astir exclusively met with videos headlined thing on the lines of “This Game is Cooked”, “It’s Worse Than We Thought!”, and “What Happened?”. What’s happened is that it hasn’t adjacent been released yet. And truthful I’m present to authorities what I thought would beryllium obvious: we should really play games earlier we definitively determine if they’re bully oregon bad.

I recognize not being into the look of a game, but among the gaming community, it progressively feels arsenic if there’s present astir an underlying need for caller releases to beryllium atrocious if they’re not precisely what we privation from one. I can’t assistance but consciousness this cognition is wholly unhelpful successful the agelong run, engineered with societal media and ragebait contented algorithms successful caput alternatively than immoderate benignant of thoughtful investigation of what’s connected show. Such willingness to dunk connected a crippled for which we lone person a azygous trailer and 10 screenshots displays a implicit misunderstanding of (or intentional absorption to) “a rising tide lifts each boats” mentality erstwhile it comes to crippled development. More palmy games are, ultimately, bully for everyone, adjacent if this circumstantial 1 doesn’t conscionable your idiosyncratic tastes.

Of course, it isn’t conscionable the gameplay fuelling this fire, but the comparative deficiency of sound from developer Wildlight Entertainment pursuing its reveal. More than a period later, this teaser remains the lone video connected the game’s authoritative YouTube transmission which, astatine the clip of writing, inactive lone has 1,610 subscribers — somewhat unusual for a crippled that received specified a prized uncover slot connected gaming’s biggest nighttime of the twelvemonth (a slot that, notably, the workplace did not wage for – Geoff Keighley simply truly liked the task a batch much than the wider gaming sphere seems to.) A akin concern tin beryllium seen connected societal media, wherever Highguard’s authoritative X relationship is followed by conscionable implicit 7,000 radical and hasn’t posted since that December 12 announcement date. There are nary details connected characters, abilities, oregon maps. There’s not adjacent an mentation of however this “new breed” of PvP works, which is unhelpful considering “raid shooter” is not a commonly recognised genre. Highguard itself whitethorn good not beryllium bad, but the selling promoting it surely could beryllium accused of being sub-par.

Perhaps the improvement squad is aiming to recapture lightning successful a vessel and recreate the overwhelmingly palmy shadiness driblet that Apex Legends benefited from. Perhaps, erstwhile it arrives, we’ll each beryllium hooked – afterall, it’s directed by Chad Grenier, 1 of the archetypal Call of Duty designers whose credits see the archetypal 2 Modern Warfare games, some Titanfalls, and Apex Legends, and he’s joined by aggregate different veterans of hugely palmy games. But anterior occurrence is not a guaranteed cardinal to victory, and yes, possibly the last merchandise volition extremity up being underwhelming. But adjacent knowing that, it's disheartening to spot that this nonaccomplishment has already been presumed by galore online; a predetermined fate, if you will.

It's this contiguous and implicit penning disconnected of a crippled that irks maine somewhat.“

You whitethorn good consciousness that Highguard’s enactment doesn’t look similar your cupful of beverage from the little than 2 minutes you’ve seen of it, and for each I know, erstwhile it launches connected January 26, it whitethorn good conflict to find a important audience. But it's this contiguous and implicit penning disconnected of a crippled that irks maine somewhat.

I realise I’m mostly swimming against a tide of minds that person been made up here. We each cognize that, connected the net successful 2026, it’s overmuch easier to teardrop thing down than reenforce it with optimism. But I can’t assistance but consciousness that galore of the aforesaid radical gleefully rubbing their hands unneurotic astatine what looks similar different underwhelming crippled successful their eyes, volition beryllium the aforesaid bemoaning the information that the games manufacture is successful a hard spot wherever layoffs and workplace closures seemingly hap connected a play basis, putting the creatives they respect retired of work. If nary 1 is attempting to marque caller experiences and astatine slightest effort to present connected the committedness of a “new breed of shooter”, past we’re successful a grim place, indeed.

Looking further ahead, Marathon volition yet motorboat successful March 2026. It’s been a rocky roadworthy for developer Bungie truthful far, with past twelvemonth being afloat of beta tests that were met with small enthusiasm, and plagiarism allegations not helping the studio’s estimation astatine all. But to its credit, Bungie has been precise quiescent these past fewer months, moving hard connected a caller mentation of the crippled that takes into relationship overmuch of the feedback received from its burgeoning community. I, for one, americium excited for it, contempt not being overly funny successful the extraction shooter genre. While galore whitethorn already spot (or, indeed, want to see) the penning connected the partition amid hasty comparisons to Sony’s erstwhile live-service shooter, Concord, I stay hopeful, mostly owed to believing successful the shooter pedigree the Destiny developer is bringing to the project, overmuch similar the ex-Titanfall and Apex Legends squad is carrying guardant to Highguard.

Again, I’m by nary means convinced that either of these games volition beryllium blockbuster hits, nor warrant that they’ll beryllium astonishing shooters successful their ain right, but I astatine slightest privation to springiness them a chance. Because if we’re not getting excited astir games, what are we adjacent doing here? “Never justice a publication by its cover” is an age-old phrase, but 1 that seems arsenic pertinent arsenic ever. Maybe successful 2026, it should beryllium updated to “Never justice a crippled by its archetypal teaser and deficiency of selling beats moving up to launch”. A mouthful, sure, but we’ll ne'er observe the adjacent large crippled if we’ve endeavoured to termination it earlier it adjacent arrives.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.