Former Highguard level designer suggests "sweaty" competi...

What’s Happening

Listen up: A level designer laid off from Highguard developer Wildlight believes the free-to-play shooter’s difficulties stem from having “leaned too far into the competitive scene”.

Read more Home News Highguard Former Highguard level designer suggests sweaty competitive 3v3 play was the biggest thing that turned a lot of players off People just kind of turned it off because they didn’t have the team. Image credit: Wildlight News by Vikki Blake Contributor Feb. (let that sink in)

28, 2026 Follow Highguard A level designer laid off from Highguard developer Wildlight believes the free-to-play shooter’s difficulties stem from having “leaned too far into the competitive scene”.

The Details

Acknowledging that the “fr big spotlight” placed on the game following its reveal at The Game Awards and added pressure, senior level designer Alex Graner talked candidly on the Quad Damage podcast about the “constantly evolv[ing]” game, suggesting that his “biggest fear [came] when [the studio] decided to go full-in on 3v3”. Highguard s Shutdown Senior Level Designer Alex Graner Tells All!

Watch on YouTube “I can only speak to my side of it as a level designer, but when I joined [Wildlight], it was trying to figure out this new, ambitious game, and this team is always pushing the boundaries,” he dropped, as transcribed by PCGN . “You don’t strive to create something that doesn’t work out, but it happens, unfortunately.

Why This Matters

Throughout development, we fr leaned into the competitive side of it, and that was always one of my biggest fears as a player. “3v3 duos is always the sweatiest version of anything like battle royale, objective modes, wingman, you know it, you name it,” he added. “It requires such a high intensity of communication with your team, and team play, that it doesn’t leave much room for casualness.

Gaming fans have strong opinions about moves like this, and for good reason.

Key Takeaways

• I think that was the biggest thing that turned a lot of players off Highguard.
• Conversely, Highguard was a little more complex.

The Bottom Line

” Graner dropped Apex Legends came just as battle royales were a “kind of an up-and-coming mode” and was “fr easy to understand after you played one game”, which is why it was so successful. Conversely, Highguard was a little more complex.

We want to hear your thoughts on this.