Today, the new free shooter Highguard launches on Steam, but there isn’t much advertising. Experts still believe in its success.
What kind of new game is this? The new shooter Highguard comes from the creators of Apex Legends and Titanfall and is set to be a new PvP raid shooter. The shooter aims to completely redefine the genre and also focuses on trends that other titles do not pursue.
So there aren’t just standard PvP battles, but a mix of PvE and PvP, where players initially fight against NPCs in the game, loot resources, and then compete for dominance over the Breacher.
The Breacher is a kind of battering ram that is meant to break through the shield of the enemy base and ultimately destroy it to win the game. The gameplay and gunplay lean more towards Apex Legends: fast, with lots of movement and action. However, the marketing is the opposite of exciting.
Here you can see the trailer for the game:
No marketing is also marketing
Why do we hear so little about the game? Highguard was presented at the 2025 Game Awards and immediately announced a release just a few weeks later on January 26, 2026. However, there was already criticism of the trailer at that time.
While the trailer showed some gameplay, the concept presented was so different and innovative that players couldn’t categorize the title and were more confused than excited.
Since the trailer, the team has not provided any clarification. So MeinMMO expert Dariusz Müller had to analyze what players can really expect.
Much like the famous canned beer 0.5, the new shooter seems intentionally to refrain from disclosing information, likely hoping that enough players will give it a chance even with little advertising – and ideally be positively surprised. This strategy has worked similarly for the developers with Apex Legends, even if this time there’s no real shadow drop for Highguard.
Over the weekend between January 23 and 25, 2026, press and influencers were initially allowed to play the title. However, they are also prohibited from saying anything concrete about the game mode until the release. What they do say, however, sounds positive.
What do the experts say? Only a few have been able to play Highguard so far, and confidentiality agreements create little transparency about whether the shooter can truly be good. However, early opinions praise the title. For example, YouTuber Ayy_TonyRomero explains in a video that he had fun with Highguard at the test event and that it will be enjoyable for anyone who liked the beginnings of Apex Legends.
Also, @TheCartelDel talks on X.com about Highguard and writes: “Since I actually played Highguard, I am especially looking forward to how people will try to compare it to another title. I suspect they will struggle with that. The thing is unique.”
Geoff Keighley, the host of the Game Awards, also had the chance to play Highguard. He writes on X.com: “I tried it for the first time last summer and had so much fun – now it’s your turn on Monday. I’m curious what everyone will think!”
The marketing strategy of only inviting creators and the press, then prohibiting everyone from speaking about the game until release, while inviting every player to play the new shooter for free and unbiased on Steam could pay off.
At the same time, the limited marketing could also lead to the game failing, as if it doesn’t reach enough players in the first week, the shooter might miss its release hype.
How Highguard really is remains exciting and uncertain. Launching a unique game mode without any explanation to the players is bold, but it could work just as well as it did for Apex Legends and its shadow drop. The silence surrounding the shooter has been deafening: There’s so little known about a new shooter that players are already searching the trophies on PS5 for hints
