Wildlight Leisure, the studio behind the brand new not-hero shooter Highguard, has reportedly laid off “most” of its workforce simply weeks after the sport launched on January 26.
Stage designer Alex Graner posted concerning the information on his LinkedIn account, saying he’s searching for no matter’s subsequent after he and an unknown variety of his fellow workers have been let go. Kotaku has reached out to Wildlight for remark and can replace the story if we hear again.
Sadly, together with a lot of the workforce at Wildlight, I used to be laid off as we speak.
This one actually stings as there was a number of unreleased content material I used to be actually wanting ahead to that I and others designed for Highguard.
Nevertheless, I’m excited for my subsequent journey. In case your workforce or anybody wants an skilled Stage Designer, hit me up!
Highguard was introduced in December in the course of the 2025 Recreation Awards, and it didn’t go over very nicely with some sides of the web. Then the workforce at Wildlight went radio silent for weeks till the sport lastly launched on the finish of January and press and content material creators bought hands-on time with the sport. The response to the ultimate sport was a bit lukewarm, although Wildlight was fast to answer suggestions concerning the sport’s small 3v3 workforce compositions by including a 5v5 mode throughout the first week.
Although the sport appeared to wrestle by way of concurrent gamers, director and studio head Chad Grenier stated in an interview with Polygon that the workforce was much less involved with participant counts than it was with making one thing its participant base loved. “Whether or not it will get a thousand individuals or 100 million individuals, it doesn’t matter,” he stated. “What issues most is that the sport is cherished by the individuals who performed it.”
Replace 2/11/2026, 7:39 p.m. ET: An increasing number of builders are talking publicly concerning the layoffs, reiterating that a lot of the studio appears to have been impacted.
Right this moment I used to be laid off from Wildlight together with a lot of the workers. It was one of the best workforce I’ve ever labored with, and I’ve by no means put a lot of myself right into a venture earlier than. I would not commerce the previous 2.5+ yrs for something. I am nonetheless spinning, and will not be in a spot to start out considering… pic.twitter.com/AimTVwrJ7N
— Josh Sobel (@Joshiepoo25) February 11, 2026
Replace 2/11/2026, 7:52 p.m. ET: Wildlight offered the next assertion:
“Right this moment we made an extremely tough resolution to half methods with quite a few our workforce members whereas conserving a core group of builders to proceed innovating on and supporting the sport.
We’re pleased with the workforce, expertise, and the product we’ve created collectively. We’re additionally grateful for gamers who gave the sport a shot, and people who proceed to be part of our neighborhood.”
