{"id":1777567,"date":"2026-02-18T09:59:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T06:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1777567"},"modified":"2026-02-18T09:59:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T06:59:57","slug":"highguard-developer-wildlight-entertainment-reportedly-funded-by-tencent-though-the-scale-of-this-funding-remains-a-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1777567","title":{"rendered":"Highguard developer Wildlight Entertainment reportedly funded by Tencent, though the scale of this funding remains a mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/highguard\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Highguard<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Highguard developer Wildlight Entertainment reportedly funded by Tencent, though the scale of this funding remains a mystery<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Ain&#8217;t it fun-ding.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/highguard-headline_GkemxgH.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Highguard screenshot showing a female character jumping through the air while aiming a large gun with a scope\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"highguard-headline_GkemxgH.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Wildlight<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Connor Makar avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/tAtwiaBo_400x400.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"374\" height=\"374\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Connor Makar avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"tAtwiaBo_400x400.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"374\" height=\"374\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/connor-makar\">Connor Makar<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Staff Writer<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-02-18T09:59:57+00:00\">Feb. 18, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/highguard-developer-wildlight-entertainment-reportedly-funded-by-tencent?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          1 comment<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"50adbca5-85d4-4527-8e29-842e617316c0\" data-name=\"Highguard\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Highguard\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Highguard\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Highguard\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Highguard\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Highguard\" title=\"Follow Highguard\"><br \/>\n  Follow Highguard<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>A new report has revealed that Wildlight Entertainment, the studio behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/we-were-turned-into-a-joke-from-minute-one-fired-highguard-developer-reflects-on-games-ill-fated-launch-and-false-assumptions-after-game-awards-reveal\">ill-fated first person shooter Highguard<\/a>, was funded by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/companies\/tencent\">Tencent<\/a> studio group TiMi. The full scope of this funding, its connection if any to recent layoffs, and the reason for its secrecy remains unclear.<\/p>\n<p>The story,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamefile.news\/p\/tencent-highguard-wildlight-entertainment\"> broken by Stephen Totilo&#8217;s Game File<\/a>, emphasizes that Wildlight was and remains &#8220;technically independent&#8221; from Tencent \/ TiMi, and notes that Tencent has a public and vast presence in funding Western Game Development. For example, Tencent is a major investor in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/league-of-legends\">League of Legends<\/a> developer Riot Games, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ubisoft-and-tencent-announce-new-subsidiary-vantage-studios-to-lead-development-for-the-assassins-creed-far-cry-rainbow-six-franchises\">and backed Ubisoft&#8217;s Vantage Studios subsidiary<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Another example of Tencent investing could be Arrowhead Studios, the creator of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/helldivers-2\">Helldivers 2<\/a>. Last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ubisoft-roblox-riot-and-now-helldivers-tencent-just-acquired-a-15-stake-in-arrowhead-games\">Tencent bought up a 15% stake in Arrowhead Games<\/a> following the release of the hugely popular PvE third person shooter.<\/p>\n<p>However, unlike those aforementioned games, Tencent \/ TiMi&#8217;s involvement in Wildlight wasn&#8217;t publicly announced. You can&#8217;t, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timistudios.com\/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email#games\">see the game listed in the TiMi Studio Group website<\/a>. Why was this?<\/p>\n<p>Well, Games Business editor in chief Christopher Dring <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Chris_Dring\/status\/2023897547136237992\">provided some context<\/a> to how independent studio funding works which could explain the situation. &#8220;When a big independent studio forms, they typically go through funding rounds where they ask investors to support their project\/studio&#8221;, Dring posted on X. &#8220;Various groups can invest in these rounds. Historically, Tencent has been a regular investor in new teams. You&#8217;d be surprised at how many other devs have &#8216;secret&#8217; (but not actually secret) Tencent backing.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Games require funds to be made. Being backed by investors doesn&#8217;t make you any less independent. Heck, a lot of the time, the investment isn&#8217;t even enough to cover everything. Multiple rounds are usually required, and even then it might need a publisher. Tencent, and similar investors, are not a well of money people can keep coming back to. In most cases, it&#8217;s some funds to get going, and then it&#8217;s on the developers to deliver the rest.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So, this all may be a lot less exciting than it initially appears. Even so, an interesting peak perhaps into the world of independent studios, how they&#8217;re funded, and what that means. This report from Game File comes at roughly the same time as the Highguard website was suddenly taken down.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>A new report has revealed that Wildlight Entertainment, the studio behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/we-were-turned-into-a-joke-from-minute-one-fired-highguard-developer-reflects-on-games-ill-fated-launch-and-false-assumptions-after-game-awards-reveal\">ill-fated first person shooter Highguard<\/a>, was funded by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/companies\/tencent\">Tencent<\/a> studio group TiMi. The full scope of this funding, its connection if any to recent layoffs, and the reason for its secrecy remains unclear.<\/p>\n<p>The story,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamefile.news\/p\/tencent-highguard-wildlight-entertainment\"> broken by Stephen Totilo&#8217;s Game File<\/a>, emphasizes that Wildlight was and remains &#8220;technically independent&#8221; from Tencent \/ TiMi, and notes that Tencent has a public and vast presence in funding Western Game Development. For example, Tencent is a major investor in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/league-of-legends\">League of Legends<\/a> developer Riot Games, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ubisoft-and-tencent-announce-new-subsidiary-vantage-studios-to-lead-development-for-the-assassins-creed-far-cry-rainbow-six-franchises\">and backed Ubisoft&#8217;s Vantage Studios subsidiary<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Another example of Tencent investing could be Arrowhead Studios, the creator of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/helldivers-2\">Helldivers 2<\/a>. Last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ubisoft-roblox-riot-and-now-helldivers-tencent-just-acquired-a-15-stake-in-arrowhead-games\">Tencent bought up a 15% stake in Arrowhead Games<\/a> following the release of the hugely popular PvE third person shooter.<\/p>\n<p>However, unlike those aforementioned games, Tencent \/ TiMi&#8217;s involvement in Wildlight wasn&#8217;t publicly announced. You can&#8217;t, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timistudios.com\/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email#games\">see the game listed in the TiMi Studio Group website<\/a>. Why was this?<\/p>\n<p>Well, Games Business editor in chief Christopher Dring <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Chris_Dring\/status\/2023897547136237992\">provided some context<\/a> to how independent studio funding works which could explain the situation. &#8220;When a big independent studio forms, they typically go through funding rounds where they ask investors to support their project\/studio&#8221;, Dring posted on X. &#8220;Various groups can invest in these rounds. Historically, Tencent has been a regular investor in new teams. You&#8217;d be surprised at how many other devs have &#8216;secret&#8217; (but not actually secret) Tencent backing.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Games require funds to be made. Being backed by investors doesn&#8217;t make you any less independent. Heck, a lot of the time, the investment isn&#8217;t even enough to cover everything. Multiple rounds are usually required, and even then it might need a publisher. Tencent, and similar investors, are not a well of money people can keep coming back to. In most cases, it&#8217;s some funds to get going, and then it&#8217;s on the developers to deliver the rest.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So, this all may be a lot less exciting than it initially appears. Even so, an interesting peak perhaps into the world of independent studios, how they&#8217;re funded, and what that means. This report from Game File comes at roughly the same time as the Highguard website was suddenly taken down.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Highguard Highguard developer Wildlight Entertainment reportedly funded by Tencent, though the scale of this funding remains a mystery Ain&#8217;t it fun-ding. Image credit: Wildlight News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on Feb. 18, 2026 1 comment Follow Highguard A new report has revealed that Wildlight Entertainment, the studio behind ill-fated first person [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1777567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1777567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1777567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1777567\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1777567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1777567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1777567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}