Highguard’s Steam Rating Shifts to ‘Mostly Positive’ After Filtering Reviews from Players with 3+ Hours of Gameplay

Highguard’s user reviews tell a starkly different story when you focus on feedback from players who have invested at least three hours into this polarizing hero shooter.

Developed by a team of former Respawn Entertainment members, Highguard stumbled out of the gate with a lackluster trailer that wrapped up The Game Awards 2025, failing to set it apart from countless other free-to-play shooters. Despite a strong launch with nearly 100,000 concurrent players on Steam, the game quickly garnered ‘Mostly Negative’ reviews, with many players voicing frustrations over server issues and performance problems, while others simply joined in on the meme frenzy.

This negative sentiment has lingered, with only 37% of around 28,000 Steam reviews giving the game a positive rating at the time of writing. However, when you filter for reviews from players who have logged over three hours, the narrative shifts dramatically. Highguard’s rating transforms from ‘Mostly Negative’ to ‘Mostly Positive,’ with 76% of these players expressing favorable opinions. This isn’t too surprising; those who enjoy a game are more likely to invest time in it, while those frustrated by performance issues are unlikely to stick around for long.

The filtered reviews suggest that players who delve deeper into Highguard’s mechanics—beyond merely checking if it’s just another ‘Concord 2,’ as some reviews jokingly suggest—tend to have a more favorable view of the game, despite the initial backlash. While there are valid critiques, such as the maps feeling overly large and sparse for a 3v3 format, leading to extended periods of looting rather than action, the game is more competent than the online discourse might imply.

In response to the mixed reception, the developers of Highguard have been actively “listening to feedback and working to add some highly requested features” as they prepare for the first patch.