All News
Highguard Leadership Nixed External Playtests for Apex Legends-Style Shadow Drop – RumorPlaytesters had plenty of access to developers who could answer any questions about the game's complex mechanics, unlike in real life.
Feb 27
Highguard: New Report Details The Months Leading Up To Launch And The Fallout After
After a ceremonious reveal at the conclusion of The Game Awards 2026 , newcomer developer Wildlight Entertainment launched its first-person raid shooter Highguard on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Despite eclipsing 100,000 concurrent Steam players around the game's launch, that number quickly dropped (though Steam concurrents are only a fraction of the total players), with Steam's reviews status for the game sitting at "mixed" today . As a result, Wildlight laid off most of its 100-person staff , roughly two weeks after the game's launch, and according to a new report from Bloomberg , less than 20 developers remain at the studio – it's those remaining employees that have pushed out two somewhat hefty patches for Highguard since the layoffs on February 11. That same Bloomberg report also details the game's development, the weeks after its reveal at The Game Awards in December, and the subsequent Highguard fallout since launch last month. Bloomberg reports that in 2021, a small group of people who worked at developer Respawn Entertainment, owned by EA, quit and started a new studio. After helping Respawn launch Apex Legends in 2019, some at the studio watched the battle royale bring in more than $3 billion in revenue over the next couple of years. However, some of the creatives felt slighted by how little of that $3 billion made its way to the developers behind it. Thus, the idea of starting a new studio, creating a successful surprise-launch live-service shooter, and sharing the profits among employees was born. With Wildlight co-founder and CEO Dusty Welch touting the studio's profit-sharing program, he was able to attract others to join the team and work on what was first a survival game like Rust before it was transformed into the raid shooter that Highguard launched last month, according to the report. Bloomberg writes that after the transition to a raid shooter, which retained some of the elements of the original Rust-esque prototype, testing began with staff, external players, and Tencent's TiMi Studio Group; it was only recently revealed that China-based company Tencent helped fund Highguard by Stephen Totilo's Game File on February 17. Reception amongst those tests was positive, according to the 10 Highguard developers Bloomberg spoke to for its report, but some employees were apparently concerned that these tests weren't accurate enough to a real play environment. Developers helped playtesters understand mechanics, in-game communication was encouraged, and more, but these gameplay aspects aren't guaranteed when a game reaches players' hands after launch. To get ahead of that, some employees suggested letting people play Highguard before launch, perhaps in a beta or open playtest, but leadership at Wildlight turned down that suggestion, Bloomberg reports. The leadership at Wildlight wanted to announce the game and launch it a few weeks later, without letting the public play it beforehand, as those developers had seen work successfully with Respawn's Apex Legends. As a result, Highguard was revealed, the reception soured quickly, and the game became a bit of a meme online before it even launched, with some comparing it to Concord, PlayStation's own live-service shooter that shut down two weeks after launch. Bloomberg reports that the employees it spoke to said Wildlight was a "healthy, collaborative, transparent" environment they loved working in... until the final two months, when morale tanked following the game's subsequent reception after The Game Awards reveal. Then, the game launched on January 26 and did little to impress both critics and players alike – Game Informer gave it a 7.5 in its review . Despite a strong initial showing, playercounts dropped, and two weeks after launch, Wildlight laid off most of its staff. With Highguard being a free-to-play title, its avenue for revenue is highly dependent on retaining players and getting them to spend money on in-game cosmetics, mounts, and more. Today, Highguard is still live and receiving updates, though it remains unclear how long it can live with so little staff, comparatively, working on the game. For more details, be sure to read the full Bloomberg report here . Have you played Highguard? Let us know what you think of it in the comments below!
Feb 26
Apex Legends Season 28 Patch Adjusts Octane Stim and Removes FortifiedRespawn Entertainment has deployed a new Apex Legends Octane nerf patch during Season 28 Breach, targeting the most aggressive elements of his recent rework. The update removes the Fortified perk…
The post Apex Legends Season 28 Patch Adjusts Octane Stim and Removes Fortified appeared first on TwistedVoxel .
Feb 24
Apex Legends 2026 Roadmap Breakdown: New Legends, Events and More
Apex Legends will be taking a drastic shift in 2026, and Respawn Entertainment has revealed its roadmap for the current year. From massive overhauling of maps, to quality of life changes, all the effort is going in to make the shooter great again. Here’s everything you need to know. 1. New Legends and Reworks For […]
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
Feb 13
Diamond Apex Legends players are fed up after latest developer update on DropshipsThe post Diamond Apex Legends players are fed up after latest developer update on Dropships appeared first on The Escapist .
Feb 13
Dokibird Apex Legends Wattson Skin and YouTooz Plush Appear
Independent Vtuber Dokibird is the inspiration for a new Apex Legends Wattson skin and plush. It is part of the Breach update that arrived on February 10, 2026 . The trailer highlighting the new look for the character notes it is a 7th Anniversary Event Community-Made Reward Track outfit. As for the plush, it is going to arrive in August 2026 and is available directly through YouTooz .
The Wattson skin in Apex Legends is based on the Dokibird bounty hunter character model that she started using in 2024 following her returning as an indie. The design by RobotScarlet involves multiple references to that design. Among them is a patch that looks like her tomato mascot.
Here’s the trailer for the skin that shows off concept art and it in-game.
https://twitter.com/dokibird/status/2020981035832574026
Dokibird is often tied to this game. For example, she held a Vtuber tournament for Apex Legends back in November 2024 . She also regularly streams herself playing it and similar games. For example, one recent one involved her early access to season 28 and showing off that skin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY0--xSRnKA
As for the plush, it costs $29.99. In this case, it is Dokibird wearing Wattson’s standard outfit. That will be a standard, nine-inch-tall plush. It is expected to ship out sometime in August 2026, though there’s no set date for it yet.
Image via YouTooz
Apex Legends is on the Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices. The Dokibird Wattson skin and plush pre-orders are available now.
The post Dokibird Apex Legends Wattson Skin and YouTooz Plush Appear appeared first on Siliconera .
Feb 10
See Apex-Toys’ Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Royal Figures
Apex-Toys showed off one Persona 3 Reload figure and two based on Persona 5 Royal at Wonder Festival 2026 Winter. All three are inspired by the protagonists of the two entries in the series. Two of them are quite far along in development and showed up as painted prototypes at the event. One is still in the unpainted prototype phase. These will all be static figures , like many others in the past, with two being scale models .
Two of these figures showed up before, as Apex-Toys highlighted the unpainted prototypes of the Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Royal protagonists at Wonder Festival 2025 Summer . Both were very early along at that point. While the eyes were visible on the sculptures at that event, both were still in-progress and not finalized. At this point, both are much closer to being ready for launch , which could mean pre-orders will open soon.
The third piece is the newest reveal. That’s a HappyClick version of Persona 5 Royal ’s Ren Amamiya in his Shujin Academy uniform. This involves a chibi version of the character. It looks like he’s walking along a street with the city backdrop behind him.
Here’s how all three items will look:
Images via Apex-Toys
Persona 3 Reload can be found on the Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC . Persona 5 Royal is available on the PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.
The post See Apex-Toys’ Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Royal Figures appeared first on Siliconera .
Feb 9
Highguard Review - Promising Contender
Reviewed on:
PC
Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher:
Wildlight Entertainment
Developer:
Wildlight Entertainment
Release:
January 26, 2026
Rating:
Teen
Not every game clicks instantly. Highguard was released with little prior fanfare and even less explanation of its novel systems; my early games left me confused and frustrated. But with each match I played, I warmed to the flow of the action, the feel of movement and weapons, and the unique playstyle developer Wildlight Entertainment is trying to introduce. The game has a long way to go to be at its best, but for competitive shooter players looking for a departure from expectation, there’s good reason to be hopeful about Highguard’s future. Highguard drops players into an unusual magical world of high fantasy, but also populates that world with assault rifles and rocket launchers. The towering ruins and castles that dot the maps are impressive, the characters are all visually striking, and the in-game dialogue alludes to what might be a cool fiction. Unfortunately, the lack of in-game lore explanation or exposition left me feeling rudderless and at a loss. Is that person a princess? Why are we fighting each other? How is it that we can summon massive siege towers by slamming a sword into a wall? Wildlight presents a surprising mix of genre influences, but without meaningful, cohesive storytelling, the world is hard to embrace. Thankfully, Highguard’s gameplay fares much better. Wildlight’s background as prior developers of Apex Legends shines through; tight, fast-moving gunplay feels tense and precision-focused. Traversal of the world is great fun, especially the incredibly cool summonable mounts that let you gallop at high speeds across rock and meadow. Likewise, Highguard’s core raid game mode takes several matches to grasp, but it can be deeply enjoyable once you get the swing of things. Borrowing from the likes of Capture-the-Flag, Domination, and Search and Destroy modes in other games, raids emerge as a wholly distinct experience. Players fortify a home fort, set out across the map to scavenge resources, retrieve a relic that can break the enemy fort’s shields, and then infiltrate and detonate bombs to bring them down. The clever push and pull provides points for the shield break and detonations, but also for things like successful defense runs or full enemy team wipes during overtime sequences. At its best, the whole raid loop can be intense and fast-paced. Matches can end quickly if one team gets lucky or is especially well-coordinated, but many matches can run 20 or 30 minutes, as multiple raids bounce back and forth for each team, and the power level of available guns and upgrades on the field continually escalates. I like many of the characters, but they don’t feel especially balanced at this stage, with a few of them essentially required to be on a team for a good shot at victory. Highguard also suffers badly from a lack of variety. Even after the recent addition of a 5v5 option that gives matches a larger scope (but a lesser tactical feel), after a couple of dozen hours, I was definitely feeling the repetition. The early match loop, in particular, is tiresome to repeat. And while I sympathize with the desire to have familiar weapon archetypes that a player can recognize at sight as one scavenges, I’m already feeling like I want more nuance and uniqueness from the firearms. They feel good to use, but don’t inspire excitement. Having given the game time to settle before offering a full critique, it’s clear that Wildlight has the chops to iterate quickly and respond thoughtfully to community feedback. Even in the scant weeks after launch, the arrival of a new season, a ranked mode, tweaks to match-end stats reporting, and a new playable Warden all speak to big things ahead. However, I have to review the game in front of me – not what it might be in the future – and at this stage, Highguard feels like it needs more variety in weapons and play experiences, increased fleshing out of its in-game world, and some ongoing efforts to find balanced matches. Even acknowledging all that, here in the launch window, Highguard already offers moments of satisfying competition; the best compliment I can give it is that in a time when there’s no shortage of great multiplayer fare to try out, I plan to continue to play in the weeks and months ahead, even long after I’m done sharing this review.
Score:
7.5
About Game Informer's review system
Feb 9
Apex Legends Season 28 Breach release date, trailer, Fuse rework, and all buffs and nerfsThe post Apex Legends Season 28 Breach release date, trailer, Fuse rework, and all buffs and nerfs appeared first on The Escapist .
Feb 9
Apex Legends Season 28: Release Date, Time & Early Patch Notes
Apex Legends is set to undergo a major overhaul starting February 10, 2026, with Season 28 (Breach). Some of the biggest highlights include destructible environments, updates to close-quarters combat, and significant changes to Legends, all of which are expected to shake up how the game is played. Apex Legends Season 28 Start Time by Region […]
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
Feb 4
Apex Legends Ending Support on Nintendo SwitchRespawn Entertainment has announced that Apex Legends will cease operations on the original Nintendo Switch later this year, with Season 29 serving as the final update for that platform. The…
The post Apex Legends Ending Support on Nintendo Switch appeared first on TwistedVoxel .
Jan 31
Highguard – Review In Progress
Wildlight Entertainment is a new team with a strong pedigree of talent, including team members who worked on Apex Legends. That experience is clear from the earliest moments of Highguard. The new competitive shooter showcases agile, precise shooting mechanics and enjoyable, fast-moving map navigation, meeting expectations many players may have if you’ve played Apex Legends. And once you get into real matches, it’s clear that the game has a rewarding new match structure at its core. Even so, I’ve struggled in my early hours to find the fun amid some confusing systems, limited variation in the play experience, and little visibility into the seemingly richly imagined fiction and setting on offer. Highguard is an unusual title at launch, arriving as a free-to-play shooter with big ambitions to grab an audience, but with little to no detail about the game shared ahead of launch. That’s certainly not an obligation for game makers, but it has left the audience, myself included, scrambling a little bit in these early days to understand what the project even is. After several hours of play, the picture begins to take shape. Players control Wardens, fantasy-inspired warriors of magic and elemental powers, but who also wield high-powered weaponry alongside their mystical capabilities. For reasons that don’t seem to be explained clearly, small groups of Wardens are battling each other, laying siege to the enemy team’s stronghold in the name of – well, that’s not entirely clear. I love the colorful art style and the melding of fantasy and modern aesthetics that Wildlight explores here. But, without a PvE component or any especially clear accompanying storytelling or setup, I’m stymied a bit in this first day of play, trying to understand what’s happening and why. It is a competitive shooter, of course, and those elements are likely best left as background material, regardless. Here’s hoping the days and weeks that follow help to illuminate the lore and clarify that part of the project. No matter why these Wardens are fighting, the main 3v3 raid mode is certainly novel. Each match is neatly separated into distinct phases of play. Players select between a number of base layouts and proceed to fortify that base with additional protection before venturing out into a large open map to gather weapons and armor, gear up, and even mine resources to buy additional upgrades. After a designated time window elapses, a Shieldbreaker relic spawns somewhere in the open field, and open conflict with the enemy team begins in earnest, as each allied squad aims to pick it up. Once in hand, you can deploy that Shieldbreaker against the enemy base, open its energy shield, and attempt to raid the interior in an effort to detonate explosives and take out the stronghold. If that effort fails, things reset, there’s another chance to gear up (this time with better gear), and the process begins again.
Taken piece by piece, there’s nothing there that’s profoundly complicated. But I’ll admit that I felt completely lost for the first several matches I played – unsure where to put my attention, when to engage in combat, what to prioritize when defending, and how to even meaningfully contribute to my team. In the long term, it’s possible that the very confusion I felt might be the game’s saving grace – a slightly more complex and freeform match structure that rewards creative play and strategy. However, there are some other factors that hold back my endorsement at this phase. The single 3v3 raid mode is currently the only way to play the game, and at present, something about it just feels a bit barebones. The maps are, to their credit, very large and cleverly designed. But it means that I spent a lot of time wandering the environment, punctuated by very brief moments of exciting shooting exchanges. If the fantasy is one of besieging an enemy fortress, my initial impression is that the small player count feels out-of-sync with the concept and the map size. While I don’t understand who they are or where they came from, the small roster of available characters all look and play splendidly. I like the asymmetric powers that come into play in a given match, depending on who I’m up against. And the mix of unique fantasy powers – like magical invisibility or a character who transforms into a massive beast – makes me eager to try everyone out and zero in on a favorite. I also really enjoy the speed and fun that comes from different mounts you can summon to gallop across the battlefield. These work great, add a sense of speed and momentum, and lend something new to the shooter equation. Highguard is a thoughtfully designed game with strong movement and shooting fundamentals, and it’s trying something new within the genre. For that reason alone, I’m interested and excited to play more and better understand the flow of a given match. But it’s not an easy game to understand at first glance, and it lacks a breadth of play options I’d expect from a title that has ambitions to break into the scene. We’ll have a full review after several more days of matches, so check back in for a more comprehensive rundown. In the meantime, Highguard’s free price of entry means you could give it a shot for yourself and see whether this new raid shooter concept might gel with your desires. Highguard is available now on PS5, Xbox, and PC.
Jan 27
Become a Magpie, Pluck the World: Pie in the Skyto Release on February 2, 2026Become Australia’s apex predator in a retro bird simulator [Australia] – January 12, 2026 – Monster Shop Games andindie.io are proud and only slightly terrified to announce that Pie in the Sky, a unique retro arcade adventure, will release on February 2, 2026 for PC on Steam. Players will take to the skies as one […]
The post Become a Magpie, Pluck the World: Pie in the Skyto Release on February 2, 2026 appeared first on Capsule Computers .
Jan 12
Respawn Confirms Apex Legends Security Incident Affecting Player InputsRespawn Entertainment has confirmed that it is investigating an active security incident affecting Apex Legends, in which a malicious actor is able to remotely control the inputs of another player.…
The post Respawn Confirms Apex Legends Security Incident Affecting Player Inputs appeared first on TwistedVoxel .
Jan 10
Highguard Reportedly Paid Over $1 Million for a TGA 2025 Spot, Then Vanished Without a Trace
Highguard launches on January 26, 2026, which, at the time of writing, is only three weeks away. Though it is being created by the developers of Titanfall and Apex Legends, there’s not much talk about it. Following Highguard‘s announcement at The Game Awards 2025, Wildlight Entertainment isn’t doing any sort of promotion to hype the […]
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
Jan 8
Apex Legends Winter Wipeout event lets you grind rails, not ranks – here’s the low downThe post Apex Legends Winter Wipeout event lets you grind rails, not ranks – here’s the low down appeared first on The Escapist .
Jan 7
Apex Legends Shakes up Olympus With Winter Wipeout Event in Amped Mid-Season UpdateApex Legends has rolled out its Amped mid-season update, bringing the Winter Wipeout Event along with gameplay changes and fresh rewards.
The post Apex Legends Shakes up Olympus With Winter Wipeout Event in Amped Mid-Season Update appeared first on COGconnected .
Jan 7
How to Get and Use the Bloop Whistle in Fisch
If you are aiming for that Bloop Fish, we will help you get the Bloop Whistle in Fisch. Because this might be the only item you need to summon the Apex rarity creature in the ocean! Otherwise, like everybody else, you will have to wait for a Bloop Fish Admin Event to try and catch […]
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
Dec 30
Vince Zampella’s Tragic Death: Was He Still Involved With Call of Duty?
The sudden death of Vince Zampella, one of the most influential minds behind modern first-person shooters, has shaken the gaming industry. Best known as a co-creator of Call of Duty and one of the many minds behind franchises like Titanfall, Apex Legends, and Battlefield, Zampella passed away on December 21, 2025, at the age of […]
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
Dec 23
Vince Zampella, Respawn Co-Founder And Head Of Battlefield Series, Dead At 55
Vince Zampella, Respawn Entertainment co-founder and the head of EA's Battlefield series, has died at age 55. NBC Los Angeles reports that Zampella was killed in a car crash on Sunday, December 21, on Southern California's Angeles Crest Highway.
Game Informer
The driver was pronounced dead on the scene, and the passenger later died in a hospital, though there's no confirmation on which of the two was Zampella. Zampella founded Respawn Entertainment in 2010 with Jason West, which has since launched games like Titanfall and Titanfall 2, Apex Legends, and the Star Wars Jedi series. Before that, Zampella was a lead at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare maker Infinity Ward. EA acquired Respawn in 2017, and Zampella has been its CEO since. In 2021, Zampella became the Head of Battlefield for EA amidst wider franchise changes that included the creation of a Battlefield universe. Zampella, alongside Battlefield Studios, helped make Battlefield 6 an inarguable success for the series, which wasn't in the best place following 2022's Battlefield 2042. Game Informer has reached out to EA for comment. The hearts of Game Informer staff are with Zampella's family in light of this news.
Dec 22
Apex LegendsApex Legends is the award-winning, free-to-play Hero Shooter from Respawn Entertainment.
