Respawn Veterans Launch Highguard, a Free-to-Play Raid Shooter with Mounts

Wildlight Entertainment has released Highguard, a free-to-play 3v3 first-person shooter, on Xbox Series X|S today. As announced on Xbox Wire, the game is available immediately for download and features a mix of base fortification, resource gathering, and mount-based combat.

If the studio name doesn't ring a bell, the resumes of its founders certainly will. Wildlight Entertainment was formed in 2022 by a cadre of developers who departed Respawn Entertainment, including Chad Grenier and Dusty Welch. These are the people who helped shape Titanfall and steered Apex Legends into a juggernaut. Now, four years after breaking away to do their own thing, we finally get to see if their new studio can replicate that magic without the backing of Electronic Arts.

Titanfall Meets Rust?

The gameplay loop in Highguard attempts to bridge the gap between twitchy arcade shooters and the high-stakes raiding found in survival games. Matches are 3v3 affairs where teams must fortify a base, gather resources, and raid the opponent. According to Xbox Wire editor Will Fulton, the developers were inspired by the tension of raiding in Rust but wanted to condense that experience into a shorter, match-based format.

It is a bold pitch. Survival games usually require the kind of time commitment that ruins marriages, while session-based shooters are typically over in ten minutes. Trying to fuse the two is ambitious.

The most distinct mechanical addition here is the mounts. Rather than wall-running pilots or giant mechs, players traverse the map on various creatures. Given the pedigree of Lead Designer Mohammad Alavi—who worked on the famous "All Ghillied Up" mission in Call of Duty 4 and the movement systems in Titanfall—the expectation for fluid movement is incredibly high. If the mounts feel clunky, the whole house of cards collapses.

Built for the Grind

Wildlight is positioning Highguard as a "forever game" right out of the gate. The studio has committed to a monthly update cadence, promising new characters, maps, and modes every 30 days. This aggressive schedule suggests they are applying lessons learned from the live-service trenches of Apex Legends, where content droughts often led to player attrition.

"We’ve played a lot of it," writes Fulton in the announcement, noting the game's focus on "unique mount-based combat."

The game launches with a roster of heroes (because it's 2026 and every shooter must have heroes), each with specific abilities that interact with the base-building mechanics. Some might excel at defense, while others are tuned for breaching enemy fortifications.

The State of the Shooter

Launching a new multiplayer shooter in 2026 is a dangerous game. The graveyard of "Overwatch killers" and "Destiny killers" is vast and well-populated. However, Wildlight has a few advantages. First, the game is free-to-play, removing the barrier to entry. Second, by launching directly into the Xbox ecosystem, they have immediate access to a massive install base hungry for the next big multiplayer distraction.

The decision to focus on 3v3 is also interesting. It's an intimate player count that puts significant pressure on individual performance. In a 6v6 or 64-player lobby, you can hide your incompetence. In 3v3, there is nowhere to hide when you accidentally ride your mount off a cliff.

Highguard is available now on the Microsoft Store for Xbox Series X|S.