Ex-Highguard dev blasts “gamer culture” for ‘turning it into a joke’

by

Josh Sobel, a former developer on the Highguard game, recently criticized people who actively tried to harm the game after its announcement. He was among those laid off when Wildlight Entertainment shut down the project.

The announcement of Highguard at the end of the 2025 Game Awards caused immediate backlash, with many viewers criticizing its inclusion in the show. Developers didn’t respond to the growing frustration in the following weeks.

When Highguard launched, it received overwhelmingly negative reviews, and the number of players dropped dramatically within hours. Two weeks later, the game’s developer, Wildlight Entertainment, announced layoffs affecting the entire company, leaving only a small team to continue supporting the free-to-play shooter.

Following recent layoffs shortly after the game’s release, developers are sharing their experiences on social media. One developer specifically suggested that aspects of “gamer culture” contributed to the situation.

Former Highguard dev calls out “gamer culture”

Josh Sobel, a tech artist, recently shared his experiences launching his first game, Highguard. He’s been with Wildlight for nearly three years, and before that, spent a year at Disney and two years at DreamWorks.

He said things were looking promising, explaining that many on the team believed this project could finally help their generation overcome financial hardship, especially given their studio’s independence.

“But then the trailer came out and it was all downhill from there,” he said.

Criticism began immediately, as many have noted. Sobel himself faced backlash, partly because of his connection to Highguard. However, much of the negative reaction apparently came from his genuine excitement and pride in the project he’d spent years developing.

People made fun of me – they even suggested I apply for a job at McDonald’s – and they ridiculed me for mentioning my autism in my online profile. It was all incredibly hurtful and draining.

Right from the start, when the game was first shown to the public, the team faced a difficult challenge. As Sobel pointed out, this was largely due to incorrect expectations and beliefs.

Following The Game Awards, rumors spread online that Wildlight had paid a large amount of money to Geoff Keighley to ensure they were the last game shown. These claims have been disproven, but they still circulated widely on social media.

“Within minutes, it was decided: This game was dead on arrival,” as Sobel put it.

Man, when we first launched, it was rough. We got slammed with over 14,000 negative reviews, and it was crazy because a lot of those people hadn’t even played for more than a few minutes! Seriously, some hadn’t even finished the tutorial before leaving a review. It was a bit disheartening, to be honest.

He finally acknowledged that Highguard wasn’t flawless at launch and that feedback was helpful. However, he also pointed out that player reactions and expectations played a role in its eventual problems, suggesting their influence wasn’t always positive.

— Josh Sobel (@Joshiepoo25) February 12, 2026

I’m not claiming gamer culture is solely responsible for our game’s struggles, or that it would have been a guaranteed success without the criticism. However, the negative reactions definitely contributed to the outcome.

Despite a difficult start for Highguard, our small, independent team of dedicated developers—who poured their hearts into making a fun game without using any AI or corporate interference—felt we deserved a fairer outcome. We simply wished our game hadn’t failed in such a publicly negative way.

Read More

2026-02-13 06:49