Shroud: Highguard’s Fantasy Shooter Has Great Potential, But Technical Issues Are Hindering Performance

The fantasy FPS Highguard has made its debut, attracting 97,000 players on Steam after a quiet marketing phase following its appearance at The Game Awards last year. Among those diving into the game is former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro and current streamer Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek, who has shared a lukewarm impression so far.

“The vision is there, the FPS is not,” he remarked during a stream while playing the shooter developed by Wildlight Entertainment, as noted by a community member on Twitter. “The game’s gameplay is really good, it’s just poor performance. That’s the only thing that I would say is a little rough.”

Shroud’s assessment resonates with the broader player feedback. Highguard’s visually stunning world stands out against its sci-fi peers, but the initial reception has been less than stellar. The game currently holds a “Mostly Negative” rating on Steam, and its player count has seen a significant decline since launch, peaking at just over 19,000 concurrent players the day after its release, according to player tracking data.

There are often challenges when a live-service game launches, especially with a large influx of players. Server stability and optimization can struggle to keep up with demand, but these issues are typically addressed in the weeks and months following launch as developers implement patches to improve performance.

Wildlight has ambitious plans for Highguard, aiming to counteract the artificial FOMO that often plagues live-service titles. They have outlined a strategy that includes new episodes and features every two months, each divided into two parts.

The team is committed to “building a game that people want to come back to,” and hopefully, we’ll see that vision come to fruition.

As Highguard faces criticism online, Baldur’s Gate 3 director Swen Vincke has expressed his discontent with negativity in the gaming community, stating, “I don’t like people s***ing on things. It’s easy to destroy things; it’s a lot harder to build them.”