According to a report, Wildlight Entertainment, the developer behind Highguard, currently has fewer than 20 employees

The workforce at Wildlight Entertainment, the developer behind Highguard, now numbers fewer than 20 people after experiencing layoffs last month.

According to Bloomberg, which interviewed ten former employees of Wildlight, an all-hands meeting was held on February 11 where employees were informed that the studio was facing financial difficulties and that most of their approximately 100 staff members would be let go.

Wildlight Entertainment was primarily financed by TiMi Studio Group, a subsidiary of Tencent. The studio was established in 2023 and was described as fully funded at the time of its inception. Despite this, Wildlight CEO and co-founder Dusty Welch had previously stated that the company was an independent operation without the backing of a major organization.

Bloomberg notes that the staff believed their funding depended on meeting specific performance metrics, such as retention rates, which they failed to reach. Both Welch and Tencent did not comment on the situation to Bloomberg.

Highguard, upon releasing on January 26, witnessed a peak of nearly 100,000 simultaneous players on Steam, with comparable performance on console platforms. However, a week following its launch, the game saw a 90% decline in its player base.

Former developers suggested that the project's leadership aimed to replicate their earlier success with Apex Legends, disregarding how the gaming industry had evolved. While feedback from testers was largely favorable, it seems there were oversights in the development process.

Proposals to roll out the game in early access were dismissed by management, who preferred to mimic the surprise launch strategy used for Apex Legends. Wildlight was started by ex-Respawn Entertainment developers, including Welch, who previously served as COO and GM of Apex Legends. This game had famously launched the same day it was announced in 2019.