Highguard, a free-to-play squad shooter, is shutting down this month, just two months after its debut. This abrupt end is a stark reminder of the challenges faced by publishers and developers in the live-service gaming space. The game, developed by Wildlight Entertainment, reached 2 million players, but ultimately couldn't sustain a player base to support its long-term viability. Despite a splashy reveal at The Game Awards in December, Highguard struggled to find its footing. The studio, founded by former developers of Apex Legends, Call of Duty, and Titanfall, laid off 'most' of its staff in February, and the Highguard website went down a week later, raising concerns about the game's future. This isn't an isolated incident; Sony shut down the sci-fi shooter Concord within weeks of its launch, and 2XKO, a new fighting game from League of Legends developer Riot, also faced layoffs shortly after its release. The live-service gaming space is incredibly competitive, with sky-high player counts and steady revenue streams being the holy grail. However, breaking into this space is proving to be incredibly difficult, with recent success stories like Arc Raiders being the exception rather than the rule. Even single-player-focused studios like Remedy have struggled to expand into live-service releases. Despite the challenges, the live-service chase doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Sony, after cutting back on its live-service game ambitions, is still behind upcoming games like Marathon and a co-op Horizon spinoff. The question remains: can publishers and developers navigate the treacherous waters of the live-service space and find success, or will they continue to fall victim to the high-risk, high-reward nature of this genre?
