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Highguard |OT| Mount up and raid with me (Is this the Apex of hero shooters?)

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24 hours to lose 90% of your players, that must be a new record somewhere. I guess without Keighley this wouldn`t have seen more than 4-5k players, ever.
After morbid curiosity got the better of me and made me play a few rounds, though, I get why they went for that promotion-splash, they probably knew no one would ever care otherwise.
Uninstalled and forgotten the second after.
 
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Was watching Asmon playing the game last night for a bit.

Even though he was totally ass, there were more people watching him than players on Steam.
 
Gave it another chance. I fixed the bluriness on PC, you need to toggle DLSS off and on it to work, now the game looks much better. Played 2 more rounds, starting to understand how it works. Its not that bad, but there are some serious issues with some game mechanics and it needs a lot more options on pc. This would've benefited a lot from player testing. Now they have to slowly incorporate feeedback, fix the performance issues and bugs and pray the game survives. I saw the PS5 store rating and its actually above 4 so console players might enjoy it more

Also make a 5v5 mode. 3v3 is just too little
 
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Played a few matches and I don't know how this released the way it did.

8 characters is just too little for a release. Then, despite the simplistic art style, the game has surprisingly performance issues. A thing that wouldn't expect from veteran devs that worked with shooters like Titanfall 2 or Apex.

Up till then, it is not the worst. But why the hell did they make it 3v3 on large maps with no variety in game modes? Unless you are playing on a group, I don't see this attracting any "casuals" when it is so "sweaty" design coded. Not to mention it has what, 4 or 5 maps. This game should have release as an early access, but I think the devs feared it wouldn't survive until 1.0.
 
I just don't get how this trash even gets released, who funds this garbage?

I also tire of these specific type of criteria like 3v3 to me is so fucking niche, it's an instant turn off for me because that's an tight group setup where if you don't have 2 dudes that are gonna play this with you you're at a large disadvantage. That's what made trials in destiny work is it's a broader game with 3v3 being a closer tight group setup where you break off to play and the whole game isn't just that.

This is such a low tier effort game and what a shame, like imagine working on this what was it 5 years? Is that what it was? How does this when happen is beyond me
 
Hollywood Hitman said:
I just don't get how this trash even gets released, who funds this garbage?

I also tire of these specific type of criteria like 3v3 to me is so fucking niche, it's an instant turn off for me because that's an tight group setup where if you don't have 2 dudes that are gonna play this with you you're at a large disadvantage. That's what made trials in destiny work is it's a broader game with 3v3 being a closer tight group setup where you break off to play and the whole game isn't just that.

This is such a low tier effort game and what a shame, like imagine working on this what was it 5 years? Is that what it was? How does this when happen is beyond me
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I wouldn't be surprised if the removal of "from the creators of Apex Legends and Titanfall" from Steam was coming after some lawyers called and mentioned these guys had less input than everyone assumes.
 
Cyberpunkd said:
I wouldn't be surprised if the removal of "from the creators of Apex Legends and Titanfall" from Steam was coming after some lawyers called and mentioned these guys had less input than everyone assumes.
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Nothing to assume. All you have to do is look up the credits for those games, and you'll find that they are very much who they say they are.
 
I don't really get where the hate is coming from. Played a few rounds and the gameplay loop is pretty fun.

Seems like people are either mad because their PC is a potato or because they can't understand basic mechanics.

I'm more concerned about things like TTK, balance, playing against broken aim assist (no clue what it's like in this game) etc.
 
near said:
Nothing to assume. All you have to do is look up the credits for those games, and you'll find that they are very much who they say they are.
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Cyberpunkd said:
Then why remove it?
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I'm wondering if it was due to them using the word "creators" instead of something a bit more generalized. Maybe they have received a call some lawyers making a threat, so it's just easier to remove the statement than continue to fudge the wording.

I know there's probably plenty of prior "from the creators of", which probably have less claim to that kind of statement and gotten away with it, but doesn't mean it couldn't happen here.

Then why remove it indeed?
 
nikos said:
I don't really get where the hate is coming from. Played a few rounds and the gameplay loop is pretty fun.

Seems like people are either mad because their PC is a potato or because they can't understand basic mechanics.

I'm more concerned about things like TTK, balance, playing against broken aim assist (no clue what it's like in this game) etc.
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For me defending in general needs a buff. Also respawn timers need shortened and make it 5v5. That would make the raids really shine imo.
 
I wanted to make my own mind up about this game, played a bit and it's just... I don't really get it. What's the point in the reinforcement phase if you can just break the walls so easily? Why isn't there anything further to the stage like turrets, traps, trip wires etc?

The horses just seem out of place. The fact it's 3v3 also seems baffling. There's indicators and shit all over the place, the UI seems cluttered as fuck, just seems like a mess of shit all over the screen. I dunno, I don't really get the game mode, maybe I'm just getting too old for this shit. Seems like a mash of several different games and not sure if it works or not.

I've only played one full game so feel like I might need to give it another go but it's feeling rather meh right now.
 
Hollywood Hitman said:
I just don't get how this trash even gets released, who funds this garbage?

I also tire of these specific type of criteria like 3v3 to me is so fucking niche, it's an instant turn off for me because that's an tight group setup where if you don't have 2 dudes that are gonna play this with you you're at a large disadvantage. That's what made trials in destiny work is it's a broader game with 3v3 being a closer tight group setup where you break off to play and the whole game isn't just that.

This is such a low tier effort game and what a shame, like imagine working on this what was it 5 years? Is that what it was? How does this when happen is beyond me
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I wonder if this was meant to be another full price game but after concord and the fact this game was too far in development they just said fuck it, make it free and see what happens.
 
Bert Big Balls said:
I wonder if this was meant to be another full price game but after concord and the fact this game was too far in development they just said fuck it, make it free and see what happens.
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Could be, it's just I can't understand these people that work for years on a game for it to just flop.

I love tryin new games, marvel rivals hit and I platinumed that game and loved every second... I can't stand these uninspired looking games like Highguard anymore
 
I thought Europe was the largest market and it was going to save this game? What happened? Isn't it prime time over there right now?

It's crazy the disconnect between these professionals and the average person. Just take the 3v3 concept alone. Universally panned, by everyone, including people saying they like the game. How does that happen? How do you have 100 industry vets who don't see how shit 3v3 is in this game but literally everyone who plays it sees it within a match or two? Too many "yes" men, too many people who worked on big game A so they think they know it all, too many testers and fanboys who blow smoke up their asses. It's absolutely nuts how many developers don't understand the market at all.

808mate said:
Was watching Asmon playing the game last night for a bit.

Even though he was totally ass, there were more people watching him than players on Steam.
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Because they paid streamers to play for the first 2 hours, and once that was over they all went and played something else. The only people left playing it were mostly making fun of it. It was pretty telling that it was all paid hype when Highguard launched and Twitch had like 400k viewers who all disappeared a few hours later.
 
RafterXL said:
Because they paid streamers to play for the first 2 hours, and once that was over they all went and played something else. The only people left playing it were mostly making fun of it. It was pretty telling that it was all paid hype when Highguard launched and Twitch had like 400k viewers who all disappeared a few hours later.
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Summit and Shroud, two of the biggest streamers, went far beyond the paid portion and played it well into the night.
You can check the vod on stream.
 
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RafterXL said:
I thought Europe was the largest market and it was going to save this game? What happened? Isn't it prime time over there right now?

It's crazy the disconnect between these professionals and the average person. Just take the 3v3 concept alone. Universally panned, by everyone, including people saying they like the game. How does that happen? How do you have 100 industry vets who don't see how shit 3v3 is in this game but literally everyone who plays it sees it within a match or two? Too many "yes" men, too many people who worked on big game A so they think they know it all, too many testers and fanboys who blow smoke up their asses. It's absolutely nuts how many developers don't understand the market at all.


Because they paid streamers to play for the first 2 hours, and once that was over they all went and played something else. The only people left playing it were mostly making fun of it. It was pretty telling that it was all paid hype when Highguard launched and Twitch had like 400k viewers who all disappeared a few hours later.
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On the lines of 3v3, you know if they said we want to make a zany shooter maybe taking inspiration from the crucible in destiny perhaps with 6v6 or maybe base 8v8 shooter with some other modes etc... And leave out this silly fucking other nonsense, I would happily give it a try and maybe even play it for awhile.

But they can't and won't just stick to basics, 3v3 as I said is way to niche for the whole game it was perfect as an attached mode in a larger game, but that's it.

I'm just more old school all these silly extra things isn't necessary, a good shooter is forever a good time if they focused on the basics.
 
Timberwolf25 said:
Summit and Shroud, two of the biggest streamers, went far beyond the paid portion and played it well into the night.
You can check the vod on stream.
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Yeah, I watched Shroud yesterday, but he is one of thousands. Both he and Summit were probably paid more than anyone else and played together. The vast majority dipped almost instantly after the two hour mark, and the viewership and CCU dipped with them. Hell, by the time Asmon started streaming the game, like 4 hours after launch, the audience had dropped so much and so many streamers had dropped it that there were more hate watchers than people actually interested or playing the game.

It's clear as day that paying influencers to fly out and see the game, and shill for it, is why it charted so high in the first place, and that paying them to play on launch is why the CCU was so high. Once those things disappeared so did the numbers.

Btw, Shroud is playing it right now and instantly almost doubled the viewership of the game...lol.

One day after launch this is the CCU situation on Steam:

97,249 UTC 19:00 yesterday
18,497 UTC 19:00 today
 
falconhoof said:
I'm wondering if it was due to them using the word "creators" instead of something a bit more generalized. Maybe they have received a call some lawyers making a threat, so it's just easier to remove the statement than continue to fudge the wording.

I know there's probably plenty of prior "from the creators of", which probably have less claim to that kind of statement and gotten away with it, but doesn't mean it couldn't happen here.

Then why remove it indeed?
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I believe they're legally allowed to advertise their game that way, which is why plenty of devs do it. If I were to speculate, I'd say it's a courtesy move given the bad press and to keep Titanfall and Apex at a distance. But your guess is as good as mine.
 
falconhoof said:
I'm wondering if it was due to them using the word "creators" instead of something a bit more generalized. Maybe they have received a call some lawyers making a threat, so it's just easier to remove the statement than continue to fudge the wording.

I know there's probably plenty of prior "from the creators of", which probably have less claim to that kind of statement and gotten away with it, but doesn't mean it couldn't happen here.

Then why remove it indeed?
Click to expand...
near said:
I believe they're legally allowed to advertise their game that way, which is why plenty of devs do it. If I were to speculate, I'd say it's a courtesy move given the bad press and to keep Titanfall and Apex at a distance. But your guess is as good as mine.
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Think of it like a guy on Linkedin who put on a new job experience in their profile for everyone to see.

Fast forward a couple months, he left the company or got fired, not a good look.

Next thing you know the guy deletes that job from his resume.

I know many people who did that. Only if you know the guy personally or saw and remember it when it was up would you ever know he worked at that place.
 
I just had a thought. Anyone working on a mutliplayer only live service game should do the following to make sure they get some money for their efforts.

Charge 30 or 40 dollars and also get your game on PS Plus Extra and Gamepass. Get paid. Wait one year, until your game is about to leave subscription services.

Did the game succeed? Cool. Announce you're now going free to play, and for everyone who played the game already, announce you're giving them a lot of free in-game currency and some exclusive rewards. They'll also be happy more people can play with them.

Did the game fail? Oh well, at least you got paid and have the money you made from sales. Either end service after another year or so, or go free to play anyhow to see if you can get a second shot at success.

Is there any reason this strategy wouldn't work?
 
LegendOfKage said:
I just had a thought. Anyone working on a mutliplayer only live service game should do the following to make sure they get some money for their efforts.

Charge 30 or 40 dollars and also get your game on PS Plus Extra and Gamepass. Get paid. Wait one year, until your game is about to leave subscription services.

Did the game succeed? Cool. Announce you're now going free to play, and for everyone who played the game already, announce you're giving them a lot of free in-game currency and some exclusive rewards. They'll also be happy more people can play with them.

Did the game fail? Oh well, at least you got paid and have the money you made from sales. Either end service after another year or so, or go free to play anyhow to see if you can get a second shot at success.

Is there any reason this strategy wouldn't work?
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sounds like concord.
 
LegendOfKage said:
I just had a thought. Anyone working on a mutliplayer only live service game should do the following to make sure they get some money for their efforts.

Charge 30 or 40 dollars and also get your game on PS Plus Extra and Gamepass. Get paid. Wait one year, until your game is about to leave subscription services.

Did the game succeed? Cool. Announce you're now going free to play, and for everyone who played the game already, announce you're giving them a lot of free in-game currency and some exclusive rewards. They'll also be happy more people can play with them.

Did the game fail? Oh well, at least you got paid and have the money you made from sales. Either end service after another year or so, or go free to play anyhow to see if you can get a second shot at success.

Is there any reason this strategy wouldn't work?
Click to expand...

The reason why Highguard managed to get 97K peak concurrent players on Steam, while Concord got 679, is because Highguard is Free to play, while Concord cost 40$.
Both are mediocre games, but Highguard put no barrier to entry. So a lot of people tried it, even if it was just for the laughs.
 
LegendOfKage said:
Is there any reason this strategy wouldn't work?
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Few will buy it for 40$
For second-third rate live service game being free is their only chance to gather playerbase as it might tick to someone and even 10k stable playerbase is ok given that production value is kinda small by the way game looks

Game truly dead when it closed (Concord). Scroll steamdb and there will be quite a lot live service/long term games staying at 5-10k daily maximum (ESO, Blue Archive, Diablo, Europe Universalis, Eve Online, 1st Descendant etc)
 
LegendOfKage said:
Is there any reason this strategy wouldn't work?
Click to expand...


People won't pay a cent unless the game has some kind of appeal, which this one is severely lacking. On the surface, there's nothing cool about it and it's even worse when you play it.

it amazes me that in the year 2026 so many studios still can't read the room.
 
Angry_Megalodon said:
People won't pay a cent unless the game has some kind of appeal, which this one is severely lacking. On the surface, there's nothing cool about it and it's even worse when you play it.

it amazes me that in the year 2026 so many studios still can't read the room.
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My feeling is, sometimes game devs get stuck in their own bubbles. They probably did tons of playtesting in house and loved the game, but they knew all of its ins and outs, they knew how the game is designed to be played so they likely tested it that way. But the general gaming public will do their own thing, so if a game doesn't meet their expectations or plays oddly then most gamers won't like it for too long.

Highguard had no public beta or alpha, there was no real marketing leading up to it, the game got made exactly how the devs wanted it to be made, and then it got released all at once to the public with very little buildup or knowledge of what the game actually is. That can work if a game is instantly fun and easy to play, and has very few bugs or issues. Highguard isn't that.
 
I really hope they tweak the aiming, it feels quite bad on controller/consoles. Also had massive fps drops while sniping in the open area and very bad resolution while ADS on the sniper. I've put in 4 or 5 matches now, I think I'll put down the game for now until it feels better to play. The respawn timer could use some optimization, i think its a tad bit too long. 3v3 is also too small for the map size, and maybe dish out higher rarity weapons sooner. The looting phase doesnt feel rewarding.
 
Played a few matches last night and stlll had fun. There's obvious room for improvement, but I think it has a good foundation.

The looting phase def needs some improvements the most. I find myself finding the same items over and over again, so it feels like im going through the motions and not actually having to make decisions about what I need or might want to make an efficient build. And as many people have already mentioned there's rarely any threat from other players while you're doing this because of how large the maps are.

It definitely feels a bit unfinished and not well thought out.
 
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