Highguard Hit With Negative Steam Reviews Hours After Launch

The new free to play raid shooter Highguard has had a rough start on Steam. Just hours after the servers went live, the game dropped to a Mostly Negative rating as thousands of reviews poured in.

The launch follows a bumpy road that started months earlier. Highguard’s biggest reveal came at the end of the 2025 Game Awards, a spot that many viewers felt was poorly timed. That reaction led to early backlash before the game was even playable.

Silence Before Launch Hurt Expectations

In the weeks leading up to release, the developers stayed mostly quiet. That lack of updates allowed negative talk to grow online, and many players had already made up their minds before launch day arrived.

Once the servers opened, that frustration quickly turned into reviews.

Steam Reviews Turn Sour Fast

Within three hours of launch, more than 9,000 Steam reviews were posted. Around 7,200 of those were negative. Most of the reviews came from players with less than an hour of playtime.

Some reviews shared real complaints. A few players said the 3v3 format does not fit a shooter like this and argued that matches should support more players.

Others offered little detail at all. Commenting with something along the lines of "poop"

Comments like “utter garbage” and “awful” appeared often, even from accounts with only minutes spent in the game. We're talking, 3 minutes sometimes.

One reviewer questioned claims that former Apex Legends developers worked on the project, saying the game lacks identity and feels like several different games mixed together.

Another player joked about wanting a refund despite the game being free.