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[Cyberpunkd]

Our honorary GAF Lady comes with a new video dropping truth bombs:



AI summary below:

What happens in Highguard's launch

• Highguard, a free‑to‑play 3v3 hero shooter from ex‑Apex/Titanfall devs, launched with about 97,000 concurrent Steam players on day one, boosted by a big Game Awards finale slot and crossplay on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
• Within days, concurrent players fell by roughly 85–90% to around 10–11k, and Steam reviews turned "mostly negative," with players citing bland characters, slow pacing on large maps, and performance bugs.

Main reasons the game stumbled

• The creator argues Highguard lacks aspirational heroes: characters with immediate style, personality, and fantasy, similar to Apex Legends, that make players want to "be" them; instead, Highguard's roster feels generic and forgettable.
• The studio tried an Apex‑style "shadow drop" without a large QA army or public beta, relying on a team of about 100 at a self‑publishing indie, so issues like weak characters and performance problems weren't caught or iterated on before launch.

The role of hype and today's market

• Geoff Keighley championed the game and gave it a free Game Awards finale slot, which massively inflated expectations but also made any flaws more visible when the game finally released.
• The video contrasts 2019's Apex launch—fewer high‑quality F2P competitors, huge internal testing resources—with 2026's crowded space (Apex, Valorant, Overwatch 2, Marvel Rivals, Ark Raiders, etc.), where players sample a new game for 20–30 minutes and quickly bounce if pacing, polish, or characters don't click.

Lessons about feedback and culture

• The key lesson is the need for a robust feedback loop: internal play, external playtests/early access, and especially real player reactions to refine characters, pacing, and performance before and after launch.
• The creator references a previous "culture killed Concord" video and notes that internal bubbles and studio culture can block hard feedback; with Highguard, there were clear red flags in trailers and early gameplay that weren't sufficiently addressed.

Outlook for Highguard

• Because Wildlight is a self‑funded indie with private investment, the video suggests they may have more runway to listen, iterate, and potentially pivot the game's direction over time.
• The closing message is cautiously optimistic: Highguard's rough start shows how fast fortunes can change in live service games, but the "story isn't over" if the team embraces player feedback and is willing to adapt.

I would definitely agree about feedback loop, extensive internal and external tests, involving the community in co-creating your game, showing them you listen to their feedback. Do, don't tell.

 

[Gonzito]

Did The Professor work in Highguard too?

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Did The Professor work in Highguard too?

That's not her point at all - it's mostly two points: lack of aspirational characters, woke or not. Highguard's heroes are bland AF. Second - extensive playtest and feedback loop: the game launched with performance problems + some of the design decisions could've been avoided if the community had an input e.g. 3v3 is niche.

 

[Gonzito]

That's not her point at all - it's mostly two points: lack of aspirational characters, woke or not. Highguard's heroes are bland AF. Second - extensive playtest and feedback loop: the game launched with performance problems + some of the design decisions could've been avoided if the community had an input e.g. 3v3 is niche.

Man it was just a joke. Dont take me so seriously lol

 

[kiphalfton]

Our honorary GAF Lady comes with a new video dropping truth bombs:

 

[Germuso]

Obvious opinion that we already made on the another thread.

Just post It there

 

[Ribi]

I should be making these obvious videos and making money in my opinion. But the market is so saturated with opinions it's hard to stand out unless I'm already in or have huge tits.

Sums up highgayrd

 

[mdkirby]

I love her vids, but not much insight in that one, game hasn't, was a bit premature perhaps.

 

[PeteBull]

Any1 with at least 3 braincells knew right away game gonna flop hard af, tells u enough about what kind of individuals are in decision making spots there at the dev studio.
And wtf is that gaslighting about "private investor/ selfpublished indie" and 100 ppl working on it, or free final trailer of TGA spot, even if geoff does charity, which is hard to believe with his sleazy personality, it defo isnt 10m usd worth of final trailer spot charity.

Somebody had to pay north of 100m usd for making this game- its veteran western dev studio with 6figure salaries, which are standard , and somebody had to compensate geoff for giving them best trailer spot of most recent TGA show.

Key lessons- same like with concord- dont make shit game coz even if u market it as 2nd coming of jesus players will sniff out ur blatant lie faster than ur pup sniffs out ur fart

We will keep seeing those shitty games being made till fortnite dies out, same way we saw "wow-killer" mmorpgs from every1 and their momma when WoW was at its peak, investors/dev studios are willing to risk it all in hopes of making fortnite money, but guess what- there wont be another fortnite ever same like there was never mmorpg who got even close to WoW peak numbers- and plz dont bring up ff14, im final fantasy lover but thats 2 tiers below peak wow in terms of financial success/status, same like arc raiders/valorant are 2 tiers below fortnite, just look at commercials/colabs WoW or nowadays fortnie can afford to make

 

[Von Hugh]

In two months: "Marathon's Collapse: Echoes of Highguard"

 

[March Climber]

You know, it's a bit funny that things have flipped for multiplayer and single player.

During the PS360 gen for nearly every single player game, the big question would be 'so does it have a multiplayer mode?'

Now I feel like we are on the opposite end this gen, where people are curious about a game but then ask 'so does it have single player? or campaign?'

Some of these PvP games do genuinely look like they could be fun to play, have a unique story, and even have some fun character mechanics.

Highguard. Splitgate. Concord. Maybe Marathon too who knows.

But they refuse to put any of their cool ideas in a competent campaign mode. Especially Splitgate, which would easily be an insanely cool campaign to play with the portal-shooter shenanigans.

I'd love to blow up walls while on weird alien horse creatures to go pick up a super sword and capture a tower while finding cool guns to loot…in a campaign mode. Concord had some weirdly cool alien lore and worldbuilding lore…Campaign mode please. Marathon's lore, level, and objective setup sound fun…campaign mode please.

This goldrush of multiplayer games is all just a big gamble anyway. Why not raise the stakes with a better hand?

 

[newtypepilot]

lol wtf Geoff really shilled the game for free?!

hahhahahahaha

 

[Loomy]

The studio tried an Apex‑style "shadow drop" without a large QA army or public beta, relying on a team of about 100 at a self‑publishing indie, so issues like weak characters and performance problems weren't caught or iterated on before launch.

This part. Keep screaming this part out.

Almost getting to the point where if one of these games do not have a few rounds of public play tests to collect feedback and iterate based on those feedback, I'm not touching it.

Saw that with Concord. Almost saw it with marathon. Hoping we don't see it with Fairgames. Crowd sourcing feedback on an MP game is one of the most no brainer things you can do in this industry.

 

[IAmRei]

i forgot this game existed, if not because this thread, i might never knew there is any new failed multiplayer game lately

 

[LordCBH]

But they refuse to put any of their cool ideas in a competent campaign mode

Incompetent gaming execs who oversaw multiple mp flops; "but can we sell battle passes and loot boxes in the campaign?"

 

[Kokoloko85]

You know, it's a bit funny that things have flipped for multiplayer and single player.

During the PS360 gen for nearly every single player game, the big question would be 'so does it have a multiplayer mode?'

Now I feel like we are on the opposite end this gen, where people are curious about a game but then ask 'so does it have single player? or campaign?'

Some of these PvP games do genuinely look like they could be fun to play, have a unique story, and even have some fun character mechanics.

Highguard. Splitgate. Concord. Maybe Marathon too who knows.

But they refuse to put any of their cool ideas in a competent campaign mode. Especially Splitgate, which would easily be an insanely cool campaign to play with the portal-shooter shenanigans.

I'd love to blow up walls while on weird alien horse creatures to go pick up a super sword and capture a tower while finding cool guns to loot…in a campaign mode. Concord had some weirdly cool alien lore and worldbuilding lore…Campaign mode please. Marathon's lore, level, and objective setup sound fun…campaign mode please.

This goldrush of multiplayer games is all just a big gamble anyway. Why not raise the stakes with a better hand?

Yep, alot of games would be better recieved if they had a single player mode/campaign, even if smaller and simpler than that traditional SP campaigns.
Well it would eliminate people complaining about MP only games
Concord would of not been hated as much if it had better character design and a campaign/story mode, the gunplay itself was more than fine and not worse than alot of current successful games.

Marathon too, even if it had a simple small campaign mode, to set players up for the main Extraction mode where the story carries on etc. That would kill alot of the hate it gets
I'll be there day 1 anyway, but extraction games are intense for me, it will be 2-3 times a week play for a couple hours most each time

 

[Seyken]

Can I have a hot take? Apex Legends characters look like crap too, the game just had the perfect launch timing and less competition. If it had released today I think we would all be saying different things about it.

 

[Generic]

Our honorary GAF Lady comes with a new video dropping truth bombs:



AI summary below:

What happens in Highguard's launch

• Highguard, a free‑to‑play 3v3 hero shooter from ex‑Apex/Titanfall devs, launched with about 97,000 concurrent Steam players on day one, boosted by a big Game Awards finale slot and crossplay on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
• Within days, concurrent players fell by roughly 85–90% to around 10–11k, and Steam reviews turned "mostly negative," with players citing bland characters, slow pacing on large maps, and performance bugs.

Main reasons the game stumbled

• The creator argues Highguard lacks aspirational heroes: characters with immediate style, personality, and fantasy, similar to Apex Legends, that make players want to "be" them; instead, Highguard's roster feels generic and forgettable.
• The studio tried an Apex‑style "shadow drop" without a large QA army or public beta, relying on a team of about 100 at a self‑publishing indie, so issues like weak characters and performance problems weren't caught or iterated on before launch.

The role of hype and today's market

• Geoff Keighley championed the game and gave it a free Game Awards finale slot, which massively inflated expectations but also made any flaws more visible when the game finally released.
• The video contrasts 2019's Apex launch—fewer high‑quality F2P competitors, huge internal testing resources—with 2026's crowded space (Apex, Valorant, Overwatch 2, Marvel Rivals, Ark Raiders, etc.), where players sample a new game for 20–30 minutes and quickly bounce if pacing, polish, or characters don't click.

Lessons about feedback and culture

• The key lesson is the need for a robust feedback loop: internal play, external playtests/early access, and especially real player reactions to refine characters, pacing, and performance before and after launch.
• The creator references a previous "culture killed Concord" video and notes that internal bubbles and studio culture can block hard feedback; with Highguard, there were clear red flags in trailers and early gameplay that weren't sufficiently addressed.

Outlook for Highguard

• Because Wildlight is a self‑funded indie with private investment, the video suggests they may have more runway to listen, iterate, and potentially pivot the game's direction over time.
• The closing message is cautiously optimistic: Highguard's rough start shows how fast fortunes can change in live service games, but the "story isn't over" if the team embraces player feedback and is willing to adapt.

I would definitely agree about feedback loop, extensive internal and external tests, involving the community in co-creating your game, showing them you listen to their feedback. Do, don't tell.

She forgot to mention a lot of people decided to hate the game in advance for no reason other than wishing to see the devs failing.

 

[bighugeguns]

Hindsight is 20/20, the problem with trying to raise issues to publishers is you've got this absolute monopolistic cultural wall in Reddit, games press and elsewhere violently drowning out any attempt to highlight issues in favour of raw marketing. At some point people are tired of being attacked by echo chambers and drop giving meaningful feedback altogether, ending in ruin.

 

[The_hunter]

Character design is super boring and corporate safe.

 

[bighugeguns]

Character design is super boring and corporate safe.

This is the kind of comment that would get you called a bigot and mass downvoted / banned on Reddit.

It's 100% correct and that doesn't matter.

 

[adamsapple]

Kinda unfair to call it Concord, even right now it has 10x more players.

 

[Revolutionary]

Tim ended up playing Marvel Rivals for the rest of the week and having more fun than Highguard btw

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Our honorary GAF Lady comes with a new video dropping truth bombs:



AI summary below:

What happens in Highguard's launch

• Highguard, a free‑to‑play 3v3 hero shooter from ex‑Apex/Titanfall devs, launched with about 97,000 concurrent Steam players on day one, boosted by a big Game Awards finale slot and crossplay on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
• Within days, concurrent players fell by roughly 85–90% to around 10–11k, and Steam reviews turned "mostly negative," with players citing bland characters, slow pacing on large maps, and performance bugs.

Main reasons the game stumbled

• The creator argues Highguard lacks aspirational heroes: characters with immediate style, personality, and fantasy, similar to Apex Legends, that make players want to "be" them; instead, Highguard's roster feels generic and forgettable.
• The studio tried an Apex‑style "shadow drop" without a large QA army or public beta, relying on a team of about 100 at a self‑publishing indie, so issues like weak characters and performance problems weren't caught or iterated on before launch.

The role of hype and today's market

• Geoff Keighley championed the game and gave it a free Game Awards finale slot, which massively inflated expectations but also made any flaws more visible when the game finally released.
• The video contrasts 2019's Apex launch—fewer high‑quality F2P competitors, huge internal testing resources—with 2026's crowded space (Apex, Valorant, Overwatch 2, Marvel Rivals, Ark Raiders, etc.), where players sample a new game for 20–30 minutes and quickly bounce if pacing, polish, or characters don't click.

Lessons about feedback and culture

• The key lesson is the need for a robust feedback loop: internal play, external playtests/early access, and especially real player reactions to refine characters, pacing, and performance before and after launch.
• The creator references a previous "culture killed Concord" video and notes that internal bubbles and studio culture can block hard feedback; with Highguard, there were clear red flags in trailers and early gameplay that weren't sufficiently addressed.

Outlook for Highguard

• Because Wildlight is a self‑funded indie with private investment, the video suggests they may have more runway to listen, iterate, and potentially pivot the game's direction over time.
• The closing message is cautiously optimistic: Highguard's rough start shows how fast fortunes can change in live service games, but the "story isn't over" if the team embraces player feedback and is willing to adapt.

I would definitely agree about feedback loop, extensive internal and external tests, involving the community in co-creating your game, showing them you listen to their feedback. Do, don't tell.

Highguard failed because it lacked "aspirational characters"? What a load of crap.

 

[diffusionx]

Gotham City Imposters was really good.

Another really good FPS I think this applies to - Shadowrun.

Any1 with at least 3 braincells knew right away game gonna flop hard af, tells u enough about what kind of individuals are in decision making spots there at the dev studio.
And wtf is that gaslighting about "private investor/ selfpublished indie" and 100 ppl working on it, or free final trailer of TGA spot, even if geoff does charity, which is hard to believe with his sleazy personality, it defo isnt 10m usd worth of final trailer spot charity.

Somebody had to pay north of 100m usd for making this game- its veteran western dev studio with 6figure salaries, which are standard , and somebody had to compensate geoff for giving them best trailer spot of most recent TGA show.

Key lessons- same like with concord- dont make shit game coz even if u market it as 2nd coming of jesus players will sniff out ur blatant lie faster than ur pup sniffs out ur fart

We will keep seeing those shitty games being made till fortnite dies out, same way we saw "wow-killer" mmorpgs from every1 and their momma when WoW was at its peak, investors/dev studios are willing to risk it all in hopes of making fortnite money, but guess what- there wont be another fortnite ever same like there was never mmorpg who got even close to WoW peak numbers- and plz dont bring up ff14, im final fantasy lover but thats 2 tiers below peak wow in terms of financial success/status, same like arc raiders/valorant are 2 tiers below fortnite, just look at commercials/colabs WoW or nowadays fortnie can afford to make

Yea, it's like "indie" has become a selling point so these massive games with huge staffs try to call themselves "indie".

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Highguard failed because it lacked "aspirational characters"? What a load of crap.

I would say it's important for a hero shooter, not for every game.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

for no reason

The reasons have been stated many times and also in this woman's video. People saw another ultrageneric hero shooter with the same drawbacks as previous ones like Concord or Bleeding Edge (yeah, that thing once existed).

I don't agree with being harsh to devs unless they open fire first. However, being critical of the game after its reveal is not unfair.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I would say it's important for a hero shooter, not for every game.

Why?

 

[diffusionx]

I would say it's important for a hero shooter, not for every game.

I'd recommend stepping away, that dude thinks TF2 has crap character design lmao

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Why?

Because in a hero shooter you want escapism, you want pew pew with big numbers and looking cool while you're at it, otherwise why would they focus so much on cosmetics in every game? I am not sure, I admit I don't play MP games.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I am not sure, I admit I don't play MP games.

I don't mean to offend you because you're probably discussing in good faith but I think this is the problem with the discourse.

Laura Fryer isn't a PvP gamer but she latched on to the "aspirational characters" argument and stuck with it. PvP gamers do not care about what our characters look like. Valorant has lame looking characters. Team Fortress 2 has lame looking characters. All these games have lame looking characters.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Why?

Heroes must look cool. It's a mandatory condition. They may or not be sexy, but coolness is a primary factor. The problem is that many devs, for ideological and/or personal reasons, have no notion of what is cool. Besides, they don't ask for opinions outside their bubble, exacerbating the problem.

To me it's funny how in the last Marathon promotions they are using the least ugly character of the lot, as if they realized how badly they have been promoting themselves so far.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Heroes must look cool. It's a mandatory condition.

It's not.

Counter Strike, Valorant, Team Fortress 2, heck even RS Siege all contain generic looking characters that could easily fit in a failed game.

This isn't Barbie.

 

[diffusionx]

if you can't understand the difference between the characters in Valorant (legit great) or something like Concord then there is no point in talking about it

Agents

Riot Games presents VALORANT: a 5v5 character-based tactical FPS where precise gunplay meets unique agent abilities. Learn about VALORANT and its stylish cast

playvalorant.com

If you don't understand why there are thousands of memes featuring the TF2 cast and film shorts and how Valve has kept the same design and cast for 20 years and everyone still loves them, then well you will never get it.

 

[bighugeguns]

It's not.

Counter Strike, Valorant, Team Fortress 2, heck even RS Siege all contain generic looking characters that could easily fit in a failed game.

This isn't Barbie.

Catastrophic take, sir.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Gotham City Imposters was really good.

Another really good FPS I think this applies to - Shadowrun.


Yea, it's like "indie" has become a selling point so these massive games with huge staffs try to call themselves "indie".

God man, both games were so much damn fun and SO underrated. I had Shadowrun on SNES, so when I saw the game on 360 I was excited, but then I saw it and had my reservations. But then I played it, and absolutely loved it. Dwarf hang gliding with a minigun was very special, lol.

I'd recommend stepping away, that dude thinks TF2 has crap character design lmao

I didn't know this until earlier this week, and it really puts things into perspective, lol. I've adored TF2 since its release and all my "well, he ain't so bad" feelings when right out the window, lmao.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Catastrophic take, sir.

It's only a catastrophic take for people who don't play PvP.

PvP players don't talk about dress up like the way some of y'all do. It really shows.

 

[diffusionx]

It's only a catastrophic take for people who don't play PvP.

PvP players don't talk about dress up like the way some of y'all do. It really shows.

right, it's not like the gaas business model is built around selling cosmetics for the characters or anything

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

right, it's not like the gaas business model is built around selling cosmetics for the characters or anything

And yet, there are tons of successful GAAS games with non aspirational characters to play as.

 

[bighugeguns]

It's only a catastrophic take for people who don't play PvP.

PvP players don't talk about dress up like the way some of y'all do. It really shows.

Did you just preemptively defend Marathon?

Also, "some of y'all", maybe you should go have a nap.

 

[diffusionx]

And yet, there are tons of successful GAAS games with non aspirational characters to play as.

And even those games have a cosmetic battle pass dress up shop. "pvp players" seem to care a lot about playing barbie with their characters actually

but specifically hero shooters, really cool character designs help sell the game a lot

 

[ReyBrujo]

where players sample a new game for 20–30 minutes and quickly bounce if pacing, polish, or characters don't click.

Ah, the PS syndrome strikes again. When it was so easy to pirate a game people tried it for just a few minutes and then continued with the next iso if it didn't felt special.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

And even those games have a cosmetic battle pass dress up shop. "pvp players" seem to care a lot about playing barbie with their characters actually

Right, but most of those games started out with non aspirations characters which would suggest it's not a requirement for the genre.

but specifically hero shooters, really cool character designs help sell the game a lot

I disagree. Too many of these games started off with weak characters. It's clearly not that important.

 

[diffusionx]

I disagree. Too many of these games started off with weak characters. It's clearly not that important.

you don't understand the difference between a weak and good character though, opinion disregarded.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

you don't understand the difference between a weak and good character though, opinion disregarded.

Nobody here would be able to seperate the starting characters from 20 popular hero shooters and group them into what games will be hits and what wouldn't.

PvP gamers are mechanics and game design oriented. You think people are playing Rust because the base characters cloth underwear is "aspirational"?

 

[CowboyLou]

In two months: "Marathon's Collapse: Echoes of Highguard"

Not if I can help it

 

[P:axMagellanic]

Absolute, disingenuous clown.

 

[diffusionx]

Nobody here would be able to seperate the starting characters from 20 popular hero shooters and group them into what games will be hits and what wouldn't.

PvP gamers are mechanics and game design oriented. You think people are playing Rust because the base characters cloth underwear is "aspirational"?

isn't rust a survival game? you dont understand that this game would have a different appeal from valorant?

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

isn't rust a survival game? you dont understand that this game would have a different appeal from valorant?

I forgot, you think aspirational characters only matter in a 5v5 setting for some reason.

(Despite everyone who plays Rust has also played one or two hero shooters in their day)

 

[diffusionx]

I forgot, you think aspirational characters only matter in a 5v5 setting for some reason.

(Despite everyone who plays Rust has also played one or two hero shooters in their day)

yes, I do think good character design matters more in some games than others.

For example, I don't think anyone is playing Madden looking for cool characters.