A new game mode is intended to breathe more life into the empty maps and provide action.
After an initially spectacular start on Steam, the player numbers for Highguard quickly plummeted to where the user reviews had been from the outset: downwards. There was a lot of criticism of things like technology, performance, and the maps being far too large for the 3v3 mode.
Developer Wildlight Entertainment addressed the last point of criticism over the weekend and tested a new game mode that is now permanently available to players.
5vs.5 becomes permanent game mode
To make the maps that are too large for players more exciting, Highguard now has a mode with five members per team. Wildlight announces via X:
You’ve been asking, and we’re happy to share—5v5 Raid Mode is here to stay! ⚔
We appreciate everyone hopping in over the weekend to give the mode a try. We saw a fairly even split between 3v3 and 5v5, which helped inform our decision. pic.twitter.com/S0QfgCE7vK
— Highguard | LIVE NOW! (@PlayHighguard) February 2, 2026
You asked for it, and we’re happy to announce that 5v5 Raid mode is here to stay! We’d like to thank everyone who stopped by over the weekend to try out the mode. We saw a fairly even split between 3v3 and 5v5, which helped us make our decision.
In addition to the new mode, there is also another stronghold called Soul Well, which players can choose as their base of operations at the start of a match.
Roadmap for one year has been finalized
Wildlight already has extensive content plans for the coming months. The following content is scheduled to be added to the game in February and March:
- A new Warden (name of the heroes in the game)
- A new map
- Ranked modes
- A new mount
- A new fortress
- A new tool
You can see what else is planned until November 2026 in this overview:
As we all know, roadmaps like this are not set in stone and can change over time. What definitely must not change, however, is the number of players. According to SteamDB, the daily highs for the last week were between 8,000 and 19,000 players.
It remains to be seen whether Wildlight can turn the tide for Highguard. The response to the X post has been very positive, and we also saw potential in the new hero shooter in our test. More on this in the box above. Steam reviews have improved from 30 percent positive at launch to 43 percent positive. Nevertheless, the game still has a lot of work to be done.
