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Hey gamers — it’s Leaflit! In this video I’m reacting to Hero Hei’s breakdown of the Highguard launch disaster, where a game developed by former Apex Legends and Titanfall devs debuted with huge hype… then lost nearly 90% of its player base in the first 48 hours on Steam alone.

Highguard reached around 97,000 concurrent players at launch, but within a day or two it plummeted to under 20,000 — roughly a 90% drop — while user reviews sank into "Mostly Negative" territory.

Journalists and even Geoff Keighley spent months defending and hyping Highguard — putting it in the final spotlight at The Game Awards 2025 — and now some of those same outlets seem to be in damage-control mode instead of critically calling out the real issues themselves.

Here’s what’s really going wrong:

1. Poor Execution vs. Experienced Talent
You’d think a team with veterans from Apex Legends and Titanfall would nail a PvP shooter. Instead, players and reviewers point to uninspired gameplay, boring map design, and performance issues — stuff even average shooters do better.

2. Technical and Design Problems
From long queues and crashes to graphics glitches and clunky UI, Highguard launched feeling unfinished. Users even found bugs like a weird resolution drop tied to post-processing settings that hurt visuals.

3. Journalists Seemed Too Defensive Instead of Critical
Instead of pointing out these glaring flaws early, a lot of media leaned into hype — and now they’re scrambling to defend the devs rather than hold them accountable for why it tanked so fast. Some outlets even suggested the negative reaction was “bias” rather than legitimate feedback from players disappointed with the product.

4. This Isn’t Just a “Normal Drop”
Yes, new games often see day-one drop-off. But Highguard’s fall was extreme even compared to similar launches — and the “Mostly Negative” Steam score combined with steep player loss tells a story of mismanaged expectations and a game that didn’t deliver.

In this reaction I’ll talk about:
Why hype from outlets like The Game Awards can backfire when the game doesn’t deliver
Why journalists shouldn’t just be cheerleaders — they owe gamers honesty
How developers with solid pedigrees still need to earn trust with quality

If you think quality should matter more than hype, and journalists should call out real flaws when they see them, hit Like, Subscribe, and ring so you don’t miss more honest gaming commentary! Then tell me in the comments: What do you think went wrong with Highguard — hype, execution, or both?

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