Highguard Developer Returns After Social Media Hiatus, Reflects on Past Toxicity

Highguard, which launched on January 26, 2026, is set to go offline tomorrow, just 45 days after its release on March 12, 2026. In this short span, the game has sparked endless discussions, with critiques of its shortcomings surfacing even before the initial excitement faded. Interestingly, many who don’t play the game seem to revel in its downfall, targeting anyone in their path, including former Wildlight developer Josh Sobel, who spoke out against their behavior. After deactivating his X account, Sobel has now returned and shared his thoughts.

Sobel, one of the many affected by the layoffs following Highguard’s launch, previously posted a now-deleted message on X detailing his experiences from the game’s troubled reveal at the Game Awards to the backlash he faced online. He expressed his belief that the hostile reactions contributed to the game’s struggles. “I’m not saying our failure is purely the fault of gamer culture and that the game would have thrived without the negative discourse,” Sobel stated on February 12, “but it absolutely played a role.” His defense of his team and pride in their work was met with the expected irony, as those offended by the notion that their negativity could impact a game’s success responded with further hostility, prompting Sobel to deactivate his account.

Recognizing that a deactivated X account is deleted after a month, Sobel has reactivated his account to confront what he calls “the elephant in the room.” He referred to his deleted post as a “mistake,” explaining, “I was stressed, devastated, angry, and running on 2hrs sleep. It was not wise to take my pain to the internet in that volatile state.”

While he stands by his original intent, Sobel admits he “phrased it poorly, and some of my anger was misdirected.” He reiterates that “very dark corners” of online discourse may have “accelerated the timeline of our failure,” but clarifies that it wasn’t the primary cause. “There were a lot of elements involved,” he notes, “and there’s no way to know how it would have gone under different circumstances.”

This entire situation is frustrating, especially since Sobel’s initial comments highlighted the negativity and abuse he and his colleagues faced from a targeted campaign against the game, long before it was even released. Typically, those “very dark corners” of the internet take pride in their perceived influence over a game’s fate, so it’s surprising that Sobel faced backlash for acknowledging this, regardless of how he expressed it. Highguard reportedly attracted around 1.5 million players in its first few days, with a peak concurrent player count of about 100,000, but many of those players did not return, indicating it simply wasn’t a game that resonated with them. However, the intense negativity directed at the project undoubtedly affected the overall experience, and it was labeled the “next Concord” before anyone had a chance to play it, which certainly takes a toll.

It’s puzzling why anyone would choose to reactivate an X account at this point, but Sobel mentions he values the connections he’s made there. Fortunately, he has limited replies to followers only.