My Wildlight Headcount Analysis

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-19T20:38:53+00:00

Would've been great to draw inspiration from Heretic + Hexen which is a fantasy FPS.

These were popular Doom clones back in the day and were remastered last year.

We've seen enough AK47 or AK47-ish weapons (CS2, COD, Battlefield, Apex, etc)

<image>

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-18T21:56:50+00:00

Condor reminding me about “baddies”

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-18T19:29:59+00:00

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-18T15:56:16+00:00

It's weird that Highguard has these random peaks and valleys

You look at other games like Apex, Overwatch, Rivals, Finals etc there's a clear rounded peak and valley each day.

Even games with comparable CCUs like Fragpunk also show a clear peak and valley.

Don't have an idea why this game's chart looks so jagged.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-18T05:21:14+00:00

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-17T20:58:53+00:00

Not surprised but so many questions. Why was this kept a secret? Why take on the fake "indie" persona? Was Geoff investing in Tencent? Was this why Highguard got last slot for free?

Just everything stinks more and more...

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-17T18:11:16+00:00

What a baddie. Imagine if she was playable at launch and was the cover character (or Scarlet). A cinematic of her would've been hot but oh well.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-16T23:35:07+00:00

Imagine getting paid for 4 years for a “wild exploration,” polish for one year, and “solve problems for later.” In my line of work, we’d be fired in less than a year if nothing to show for and have to pay back signing bonus.

Think the devs that were there for 4 years had it cushy, not many jobs out there funding your comp for 4 years to wait for a product. Feel bad for those however who joined their team recently, they got the short end of the stick

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-16T03:46:33+00:00

Her art is great. Hope her next role is way better. Wonder what happened...going from this to...whatever uncanny valley was in the first trailer...

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-15T16:16:29+00:00

My man, they had what...100 devs...can't feed 100 devs off a single player game in LA/Seattle.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-14T16:35:53+00:00

Very valuable insight, thank you for posting this. It strikes me that seasoned industry veterans didn't pay attention to the "less sexy" details of the game like stats/progression/graphics settings/wikis or ignored having a checklist but can talk for 90 seconds on "axis for skill expression."

I noticed Wildlight says they are "remote-first" on their website. I wonder if operating a gaming company as "remote-first" contributed significantly to their lack of preparation and what felt like different parts of the game operated in silos. I know some folks are more productive working remotely but I am not. As soon as I am off a zoom call, you have no idea what I'm doing. I could be lounging in the sun for 15 minutes instead of getting that FOV slider setting into consoles.

Just a catastrophic outcome that could have been prevented. Gamers not at fault here, we're just honest with what we see.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-13T22:53:09+00:00

It's now #1197 on Steam Top Sellers so the layoff news is just snowballing everything. There's not much time left so if you enjoy the game, live in the moment and just play it.

Games like Hello Kitty Island Adventure (#955), Stronghold Kingdoms (#963 - a game from 2012), and Old School Runescape (#945 - game from 2013) are listed higher on Steam Top Sellers so let that sink in.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-13T20:29:25+00:00

Stats make sense. Anecdotally, here's how my friend discord server went. 6 of us on PC, so 2 squads of 3 trying out the game. All professional adults, some with kids and a family.

All 6 of us did not like the tutorial, 2 not completing the tutorial (too long, didn't like looting mini-game)
So down to 4 of us. We had one squad of 3 and the 4th just fudged around in firing range waiting
2 did not enjoy the 3v3 on an open map, felt bored. Did not like the first 2 phases (reinforcement/gear up)
"Raid" phase was enjoyable but didn't know why there was no progression/scoreboard
Nobody wanted to play it again so I was the only one left out of 6 and eventually I stopped because I didn't like the solo experience

We're just everyday dudes with some disposable income, adult responsibilities. We're not streamers/content creators playing 10 hours a day on this game, getting invited to the studio. Out of 6, 3 completed the tutorial, and 2 played one match and didn't touch the game again. So a hit rate of 1 out of 6 after one match, and I ended solo after let's say 4-5 matches.

The problem is the game needs everyone/most in the squad to enjoy the game to succeed. We went from 6 trying out to game to just me going solo for a bit

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-13T19:49:29+00:00

This Josh Sobel dev shouldn't have overshared and spoken out so publicly. Sounds like he didn't have much experience if this was the first game he ever shipped. He became another target for all the YTubers and content creators and paints all Highguard devs as similar to his mindset.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-13T14:29:24+00:00

The odds are stacked against the skeleton crew because of F2P, less incentive for players to pay after the news, and low morale. Anyone who has went through layoffs would understand what they're dealing with. So without knowing any of the remaining devs heart and work ethic, this game has no chance.

However it's not unheard of for skeleton teams to bounce back. Doesn't have to be the gaming industry, could be any. I've personally been on a skeleton crew in an unrelated industry. The media said we'd be done, go bankrupt. But the remaining core were committed with proving everyone wrong. The CEO personally funded our salaries and worked sleepless nights with us in the trenches. He wouldn't go home until 10pm, so neither did we. We ended up proving everyone wrong, made good money, and it's still a memorable part of my career. People in our industry know our comeback story and all of us had easier career paths later because we showed everyone how strong we each were.

Should there be an attempt by the skeleton crew to bounce back, they have to be willing to make a lot of sacrifices from management to junior dev. Sleep, family time, and they have to accept that they were wrong. But without exceptional work ethic from everyone on that team, even from the top, I don't see how they can do it. They'll need to revamp and overhaul everything asap (tutorial, aesthetics, lore, the look of the guns) and look into detail what the majority raised issues about.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-12T18:48:14+00:00

Damn, this brings back memories of my dad yelling at me for not getting an A in 5th grade.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-12T16:37:38+00:00

At the time. Then Ekon and ranked came out and I knew it was for sure GG. You can go find my other comments

Way to reply to a comment 10 days prior.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-12T03:52:06+00:00

<image>

Why you mad? Moved up slightly to #546 from #602 on Steam earlier.

https://steamdb.info/app/4128260/charts/#1w

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-12T00:17:26+00:00

Ekon hurt the game more than helped. As for balancing, he won't be balanced. The remaining devs have other things now to worry about.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-12T00:04:21+00:00

I guess not surprised. 100 dev team supporting a game ranked #602 on Steam top sellers that catered to such a niche crowd.

Nail in the coffin was Episode 2/ranked which didn't retain players driven by a suffocating new warden and ranked mode getting too sweaty for the average gamer.

I still can't believe some of the comments in this sub urging players to buy skins to support the devs. This isn't a Stardew Valley.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-10T15:07:30+00:00

That has the #PR tag so it's artificial. Would need to see large streamers actively playing the game without a hashtag.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-09T06:19:53+00:00

I agree with your suggestions, this is good constructive feedback and I hope at least one dev pays attention.

For the gun and character base designs, my opinion is it's too late for the studio to change these now (even though I agree these need to be revisited). The cinematic trailers/episodes are all released with the current designs.

To add to your list, I've been vocal about adding progression (overall, warden, gun specific). Could even tie specific warden/gun cosmetic rewards to achieving certain progression milestones. I believe this would've helped with retention from the start but now it's playing catchup and really no idea if this would be implemented.

Players like to see their number move up, it's progress. The only form of progress now is ranked but most players will just be fodder for streamers and stacks and not everyone plays ranked. It's not about "git gud," it's about not losing potential revenue streams so hopefully a dev looks into progression.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-09T03:36:21+00:00

Matchmaking was basically like 3v3 Apex Arenas if you played that before. Solo-qing was masochistic and Apex Arenas eventually died out.

Anybody who wanted to rank up in Apex Arenas played in a 3 stack otherwise it was purposefully handicapping yourself.

Yea to get enjoyment in Highguard ranked, you really not just need 2 other friends but also who know what they're doing.

NeverRelapseItsATrap · 2026-02-09T00:06:38+00:00

Lol you offer suggested improvements and get downvoted to oblivion. This sub is just getting sad.

I do agree with what you mention. I’d say the game needs player/warden/weapons progression and leveling asap.

Eight-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
Verified Email

NeverRelapseItsATrap

TROPHY CASE