Simply earlier than launch, Highguard devs instructed PC Gamer it would not want enormous participant numbers to succeed.
Simply over two weeks after releasing the “PvP raid shooter” Highguard on Steam, developer Wildlight Leisure has reportedly laid off an unspecified however seemingly giant variety of staff.
The preliminary phrase of the layoffs got here from stage designer Alex Graner, who stated in a message on LinkedIn: “Sadly, together with a lot of the group at Wildlight, I used to be laid off right now. This one actually stings as there was quite a lot of unreleased content material I used to be actually wanting ahead to that I and others designed for Highguard.”
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The sudden layoffs appear to contradict the expectations for Highguard that lead designer Mohammad Alavi expressed to PC Gamer in an interview shortly earlier than launch. “Truthfully, we do not want [player counts] to be tremendous enormous with a view to achieve success,” Alavi stated on the time. “What we’re actually hoping for is a core group of followers that love us. That can permit us to develop.”
Two weeks looks as if an insufficient period of time for any sport to discover a “core group of followers,” even when Highguard’s participant numbers out of the gate have been weak for a free-to-play sport, dropping from an preliminary 97,249 concurrents on Steam to a each day peak within the low 1000’s.
Along with Graner’s LinkedIn put up, a number of different builders with full-time roles on the studio have shared that they are additionally searching for work. “My place was impacted by the studio layoffs at Wildlight right now. This has been an unbelievable group, and it is immensely tough to course of that the trip is over,” shared principal sound designer Geoffrey Garnett, whose earlier credit embody Marathon, Overwatch, and an extended record of triple-A video games.
Utilizing related language to Graner, lead tech artist Josh Sobel shared that he was laid off “together with a lot of the workers.”
An hour after the information of the layoffs started to flow into, Wildlight Leisure issued a brief assertion on X:
“Right now we made an extremely tough choice to half methods with a lot of our group members whereas preserving a core group of builders to proceed innovating on and supporting the sport.
“We’re pleased with the group, expertise, and the product we have created collectively. We’re additionally grateful for gamers who gave the sport a shot, and those that proceed to be part of our group.”
