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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesHighguard’s reported Steam concurrency fell from a peak of 97,249 players to around 11,000 within a few hours on launch day, January 26, 2026, according to PC Guide’s report citing SteamDB. Those are simultaneous players on Steam—not a count of everyone who tried the game across all platforms. The apology requests described in the coverage came from some social-media users replying to The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley, whose prominent promotion of Highguard had helped put the game in the spotlight. They were a reaction, not a measured consensus or proof that Keighley was responsible for the game’s performance.
What Highguard’s launch-day player count measured
PC Guide reported a SteamDB peak of 97,249 concurrent players, followed within a few hours by a count of around 11,000. “Concurrent” means people playing at the same time. The figures describe Steam activity during a specific launch-day window; they do not count unique players, sales, or everyone playing on other platforms. PC Guide’s launch-day report does not supply a complete cross-platform count or a defined daily average.
The fall is striking, but the numbers alone cannot establish how many people returned later, why players stopped playing, or whether the game was commercially sustainable at that point. Those are different questions from how many Steam users were online simultaneously. SteamDB’s Highguard chart tracks concurrent Steam users, not a total audience across platforms.
Why some gamers asked Geoff Keighley for an apology
PC Guide described users replying to Keighley’s X post asking, “Thoughts on Highguard so far?” Some asked him to apologize, reflecting frustration with the game’s prominent pre-launch promotion. Keighley hosted The Game Awards, where Highguard received a high-profile reveal; the available reporting does not establish that he controlled the game’s development or launch, or that he caused the audience decline. Nor does it quantify how many people made the request.
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It is therefore more accurate to describe this as a social-media reaction from some users than as a broad player demand. The sharp Steam drop gives context to the reaction, but it does not validate assigning responsibility to the person who promoted the game.
What Highguard’s developers said about the audience and marketing
Before launch: a committed core audience
In a pre-launch group interview with PC Gamer, Highguard lead designer Mohammad Alavi said the team did not need exceptionally high player counts to succeed: “Honestly, we don’t need [player counts] to be super huge in order to be successful.” He added that a six-player match was not hard to fill and that the team hoped for “a core group of fans that love us” who could help the game grow. That was the studio’s expectation before launch, not evidence that the audience it ultimately attracted would be sustainable. PC Gamer’s interview with Alavi
After launch: Welch acknowledged the trailer’s limits
Wildlight CEO Dusty Welch later said the reveal trailer could have done a better job explaining the game’s distinctive gameplay loop. In remarks reported by TechRadar from an interview with PC Gamer, Welch said: “We could have made something that did a better job of highlighting the unique loop of the game.” He also said, “I wish Highguard had been received better. I wish the feedback had been better,” and acknowledged that the team had seen the feedback online.
These comments recognize shortcomings in how the game was presented and received. They are not a direct apology for the player-count decline, and they do not identify a single cause for it. TechRadar’s report on Welch’s comments
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What happened after launch
January and February: changes to Raid Mode
Wildlight’s official Steam announcements show the studio experimenting with a temporary 5v5 Raid Mode on January 30, 2026, then confirming on February 2 that the mode would stay. On February 25, it announced Raid Rush, a 5v5 round-based mode. These updates document changes made after launch; they do not, by themselves, show that the changes reversed the player decline. Wildlight’s Highguard announcement archive on Steam
February: layoffs were reported, but no total was established
PC Gamer reported on February 12, 2026, that Wildlight had laid off a substantial but unspecified number of employees, 16 days after launch. Level designer Alex Graner wrote that he had been laid off “along with most of the team at Wildlight.” The report also cited the studio’s statement that it was parting ways with team members while keeping a core group to continue supporting the game. Graner’s description and the studio statement do not establish an exact number of people laid off. PC Gamer’s layoff report
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March: Wildlight announced the game’s shutdown
On March 3, 2026, Wildlight announced that Highguard would permanently shut down on March 12. In its announcement, the studio said, “Since launch, more than 2 million players stepped into Highguard’s world,” and thanked players for their feedback and support. That is a cumulative player figure reported by the developer; it is not comparable to a peak count of simultaneous Steam users.
Wildlight also stated: “Despite the passion and hard work of our team, we have not been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term.” The announced shutdown date has passed. Wildlight’s shutdown announcement on Steam and GamesRadar’s shutdown coverage
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What the numbers can—and cannot—tell us
- The 97,249 peak and roughly 11,000 figure describe concurrent Steam players, not unique users or all-platform totals.
- Wildlight’s later figure of more than two million players is cumulative and comes from the developer; it measures something different from a concurrency peak.
- The reports establish that the Steam count fell quickly and that some users criticized the promotion. They do not establish why individual players left, how many remained on other platforms, or the game’s revenue or retention by cohort.
- Wildlight ultimately said it had not built a sustainable player base and shut the game down on March 12, 2026. That outcome supplies later context, but it does not turn the launch-day Steam chart into a complete explanation of the game’s trajectory.
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