is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.
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Another high-profile live-service game is shutting down soon after launch: this time it’s the free-to-play squad shooter Highguard.
Developer Wildlight Entertainment says that, even though Highguard reached 2 million players, the game will be shut down permanently on March 12th. That’s less than two months after the game debuted on January 26th. “Despite the passion and hard work of our team, we have not been able to build a sustainable player base to support the game long term,” the studio explained.
Before the game ends for good, it’s getting one last update either tonight or tomorrow that will add a new character and weapon, among other changes.
It’s an abrupt end for Highguard, but that short runway for live-service games is becoming increasingly common. Sony infamously shut down the sci-fi shooter Concord and closed its studio within a matter of weeks, even though the game had been in development for eight years. And 2XKO, a new fighting game from League of Legends developer Riot, appears to be on notice as well; its development team was hit with layoffs a few weeks after launch.
This all comes as publishers and developers continue to chase the sky-high player counts and steady revenue streams that come from big live-service hits like Fortnite. However, the space continues to prove to be incredibly difficult to break into, with recent success stories like Arc Raiders incredibly rare. Even single player-focused studios like Alan Wake developer Remedy have tried to expand into live-service releases with less-than-stellar results.