{"id":1799277,"date":"2026-02-28T18:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1799277"},"modified":"2026-02-28T18:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:06:07","slug":"former-highguard-level-designer-suggests-sweaty-competitive-3v3-play-was-the-biggest-thing-that-turned-a-lot-of-players-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1799277","title":{"rendered":"Former Highguard level designer suggests &#8220;sweaty&#8221; competitive 3v3 play &#8220;was the biggest thing that turned a lot of players off&#8221;"},"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\">Former Highguard level designer suggests &#8220;sweaty&#8221; competitive 3v3 play &#8220;was the biggest thing that turned a lot of players off&#8221;<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">&#8220;People just kind of turned it off because they didn&#8217;t have the team.&#8221;<\/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-update.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Four characters stand in heroic poses in a line. A few of them hold large guns. They are a Highguard team of heroes.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"highguard-update.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=\"Vikki Blake avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1533038852.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Vikki Blake avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1533038852.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\">\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\/vikki-blake\">Vikki Blake<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-02-28T18:06:07+00:00\">Feb. 28, 2026<\/time>              <\/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 level designer laid off from Highguard developer Wildlight believes the free-to-play shooter&#8217;s difficulties stem from having &#8220;leaned too far into the competitive scene&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Acknowledging that the &#8220;really big spotlight&#8221; placed on the game following its reveal at The Game Awards additionally added pressure, senior level designer Alex Graner talked candidly on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=J3wuWRHLZeY\">Quad Damage podcast<\/a> about the &#8220;constantly evolv[ing]&#8221; game, suggesting that his &#8220;biggest fear [came] when [the studio] decided to go full-in on 3v3&#8221;.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Highguard\u2019s Shutdown \u2014 Senior Level Designer Alex Graner Tells All!\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J3wuWRHLZeY?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/J3wuWRHLZeY\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Highguard\u2019s Shutdown \u2014 Senior Level Designer Alex Graner Tells All!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Highguard\u2019s Shutdown \u2014 Senior Level Designer Alex Graner Tells All!<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=J3wuWRHLZeY\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;I can only speak to my side of it as a level designer, but when I joined [Wildlight], it was trying to figure out this new, ambitious game, and this team is always pushing the boundaries,&#8221; he said, as transcribed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamesn.com\/highguard\/too-sweaty\">PCGN<\/a>. &#8220;You don&#8217;t strive to create something that doesn&#8217;t work out, but it happens, unfortunately. Throughout development, we really leaned into the competitive side of it, and that was always one of my biggest fears as a player.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;3v3 duos is always the sweatiest version of anything like battle royale, objective modes, wingman, you know it, you name it,&#8221; he added. &#8220;It requires such a high intensity of communication with your team, and team play, that it doesn&#8217;t leave much room for casualness. I think that was the biggest thing that turned a lot of players off Highguard.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Graner said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/apex-legends\">Apex Legends<\/a> came just as battle royales were a &#8220;kind of an up-and-coming mode&#8221; and was &#8220;really easy to understand after you played one game&#8221;, which is why it was so successful. Conversely, Highguard was a little more complex.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Highguard has all these different rules and stages, it&#8217;s like, &#8216;Oh, you want to loot, now we&#8217;ve got to chase this objective, now we have to plant this objective, now it&#8217;s overtime\u2026 It has all these rules, which I think works at a really high level, but when players are first coming in it&#8217;s a lot to grasp,&#8221; he admitted.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;On top of all that, because it was 3v3, that kind of game just requires high-skill movement and shooting, which is already a pretty high [bar to] entry as well. So if you just have a few bad games or your teammates aren&#8217;t sticking together, you&#8217;re just going to get rolled, and it&#8217;s very hard to 1v2 in our game.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all designed to be a team-based shooter. I think that was the biggest thing. People just kind of turned it off because they didn&#8217;t have the team.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Just yesterday (27th February), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/tencent-pulled-highguards-funding-two-weeks-after-launch\">a new report alleged that Tencent pulled funding from developer Wildlight just two weeks after the game&#8217;s launch<\/a>. Staff were called to an all-hands meeting, and then told that there would be layoffs as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/companies\/tencent\">Tencent<\/a> had pulled funding as Highguard had seemingly failed to meet whatever metrics Tencent had for it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/highguard-not-shutting-down-following-wildlight-layoffs-with-a-core-group-of-members-left-to-support-game\">Wildlight publicly confirmed layoffs a day later<\/a> but wouldn&#8217;t specify numbers, and it insisted &#8220;a core group of developers&#8221; remained to work on the game. It&#8217;s thought fewer than 20 people remain at Wildlight today.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/highguard-developer-wildlight-entertainment-reportedly-funded-by-tencent\">Tencent&#8217;s role in Highguard&#8217;s development<\/a> was, curiously, kept quiet. It wasn&#8217;t until several days after the layoffs that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/highguard-developer-wildlight-entertainment-reportedly-funded-by-tencent\">Game File confirmed Tencent&#8217;s involvement<\/a>. The reason for the secrecy around the company&#8217;s involvement is unclear.<\/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 level designer laid off from Highguard developer Wildlight believes the free-to-play shooter&#8217;s difficulties stem from having &#8220;leaned too far into the competitive scene&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Acknowledging that the &#8220;really big spotlight&#8221; placed on the game following its reveal at The Game Awards additionally added pressure, senior level designer Alex Graner talked candidly on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=J3wuWRHLZeY\">Quad Damage podcast<\/a> about the &#8220;constantly evolv[ing]&#8221; game, suggesting that his &#8220;biggest fear [came] when [the studio] decided to go full-in on 3v3&#8221;.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Highguard\u2019s Shutdown \u2014 Senior Level Designer Alex Graner Tells All!\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J3wuWRHLZeY?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/J3wuWRHLZeY\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Highguard\u2019s Shutdown \u2014 Senior Level Designer Alex Graner Tells All!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Highguard\u2019s Shutdown \u2014 Senior Level Designer Alex Graner Tells All!<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=J3wuWRHLZeY\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;I can only speak to my side of it as a level designer, but when I joined [Wildlight], it was trying to figure out this new, ambitious game, and this team is always pushing the boundaries,&#8221; he said, as transcribed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamesn.com\/highguard\/too-sweaty\">PCGN<\/a>. &#8220;You don&#8217;t strive to create something that doesn&#8217;t work out, but it happens, unfortunately. Throughout development, we really leaned into the competitive side of it, and that was always one of my biggest fears as a player.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;3v3 duos is always the sweatiest version of anything like battle royale, objective modes, wingman, you know it, you name it,&#8221; he added. &#8220;It requires such a high intensity of communication with your team, and team play, that it doesn&#8217;t leave much room for casualness. I think that was the biggest thing that turned a lot of players off Highguard.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Graner said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/apex-legends\">Apex Legends<\/a> came just as battle royales were a &#8220;kind of an up-and-coming mode&#8221; and was &#8220;really easy to understand after you played one game&#8221;, which is why it was so successful. Conversely, Highguard was a little more complex.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Highguard has all these different rules and stages, it&#8217;s like, &#8216;Oh, you want to loot, now we&#8217;ve got to chase this objective, now we have to plant this objective, now it&#8217;s overtime\u2026 It has all these rules, which I think works at a really high level, but when players are first coming in it&#8217;s a lot to grasp,&#8221; he admitted.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;On top of all that, because it was 3v3, that kind of game just requires high-skill movement and shooting, which is already a pretty high [bar to] entry as well. So if you just have a few bad games or your teammates aren&#8217;t sticking together, you&#8217;re just going to get rolled, and it&#8217;s very hard to 1v2 in our game.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all designed to be a team-based shooter. I think that was the biggest thing. People just kind of turned it off because they didn&#8217;t have the team.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Just yesterday (27th February), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/tencent-pulled-highguards-funding-two-weeks-after-launch\">a new report alleged that Tencent pulled funding from developer Wildlight just two weeks after the game&#8217;s launch<\/a>. Staff were called to an all-hands meeting, and then told that there would be layoffs as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/companies\/tencent\">Tencent<\/a> had pulled funding as Highguard had seemingly failed to meet whatever metrics Tencent had for it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/highguard-not-shutting-down-following-wildlight-layoffs-with-a-core-group-of-members-left-to-support-game\">Wildlight publicly confirmed layoffs a day later<\/a> but wouldn&#8217;t specify numbers, and it insisted &#8220;a core group of developers&#8221; remained to work on the game. It&#8217;s thought fewer than 20 people remain at Wildlight today.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/highguard-developer-wildlight-entertainment-reportedly-funded-by-tencent\">Tencent&#8217;s role in Highguard&#8217;s development<\/a> was, curiously, kept quiet. It wasn&#8217;t until several days after the layoffs that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/highguard-developer-wildlight-entertainment-reportedly-funded-by-tencent\">Game File confirmed Tencent&#8217;s involvement<\/a>. The reason for the secrecy around the company&#8217;s involvement is unclear.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Highguard Former Highguard level designer suggests &#8220;sweaty&#8221; competitive 3v3 play &#8220;was the biggest thing that turned a lot of players off&#8221; &#8220;People just kind of turned it off because they didn&#8217;t have the team.&#8221; Image credit: Wildlight News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Feb. 28, 2026 Follow Highguard A level designer laid [&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-1799277","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\/1799277","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=1799277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1799277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1799277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1799277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1799277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}