Highguard debuts for free on consoles and PC, but starts with extremely negative reviews

The new raid shooter does not convince in its premiere and receives harsh ratings on Steam.

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The launch of Highguard is now a reality. After weeks of silence from Wildlight Entertainment, the free shooter has arrived today on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series, meeting the announced schedule. However, its premiere is far from being quiet.

Just hours after its release, the game has accumulated an “overwhelmingly negative” rating on Steam, with a flood of criticism focused on technical issues, inconsistent performance, and a proposal that many players consider uninspired compared to other titles in the genre.

Highguard starts with technical issues and widespread discontent

Many of the complaints point to poor performance even on powerful equipment, frame rate drops, forced motion blur, and room for improvement in optimization. Comments about excessive wait times are also repeated, to the point where some users describe the initial experience as a “queue simulator” rather than a competitive shooter.

In terms of gameplay, criticism targets maps that are too large for 3v3 matches, characters with little personality, and a design that fails to clearly differentiate itself from other current shooters. This is added to the lack of compatibility with Steam Deck at launch, which has generated frustration among portable PC players.

For now, the negative reception is concentrated mainly on Steam, while on consoles, perception is still taking shape. It remains to be seen if Wildlight manages to react with quick patches and balance adjustments in the coming days, or if this complicated launch ends up hindering the player base from the start.