Studio Wildlight has released an update for the heroic shooter Highguard, with the main new feature being an experimental 5v5 raid mode. It is only available this weekend and is presented as a separate playlist—the developers emphasize that the 3v3 format is not going away and remains the core mode.
Alongside the 5v5 mode, a new base called "The Well of Souls" has been added to the game—a grim artifact from a long-gone era. The location has been added to the general map rotation and is available in both 3v3 and 5v5. According to the lore, the Iron Warden has adapted this place for combat operations, despite the fact that the "voices of the dead" can still be heard there.
To support the increased team sizes, the developers have updated the lobby: it is now possible to form groups of up to five players. In raids, the number of lives has increased from six to ten, and the respawn time is now slightly longer—this is intended to provide more room for tactical actions related to setting up and disabling generators. However, the shooting range does not yet support the 5v5 format, so this option will be unavailable for groups of more than three players.
The patch also includes a number of technical improvements. Wildlight claims significant optimization of animations, projectiles, and rendering, as well as improved overall stability on PC and consoles. Additionally, new settings have been added: motion blur and support for anisotropic materials on consoles.
Highguard launched on January 26th for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series. Upon release, the shooter received a "mostly negative" rating on Steam, where it also attracted 97,249 concurrent players. The developers previously added "highly requested features" and reduced crashes by 90%, and also promised an event-packed 2026.