Is fantasy-themed shooter Highguard the next big esports title?

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 15/12/2025

A lot of new games were showcased during the Game Awards 2025, with ‘Highguard’ the final reveal of the show.

The fantasy-themed, PvP shooter is the debut title of Wildlight Entertainment, a studio of former Apex Legends and Titanfall developers.

The multiplayer title will be free-to-play and will release on January 26th, 2026, on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.

While the name made up of synonyms for ‘over’ (high) and ‘watch’ (guard) isn’t overly inspiring, the gameplay does appear to be somewhat unique.

The Steam page for the game is already live and describes the upcoming title as:

“A PvP raid shooter where players will ride, fight, and raid as Wardens, arcane gunslingers sent to fight for control of a mythical continent.

“[Players will battle] rival Warden crews for possession of the Shieldbreaker, then break into and destroy the enemy base to secure territory in this all-new breed of shooter.”

From the three-minute gameplay trailer, it was revealed that players will have access to mounts for faster travel, various abilities, and a mix of medieval and modern weaponry.

Not much else is known about the game, despite it releasing in a month’s time as development was kept very quiet.

As a result, it’s hard to judge whether this game will have a future as an esports title or not; that will likely depend on the game’s popularity.

Apex Legends has found plenty of success as an esport, with the fifth ALGS Global Series Championship coming next month.

Highguard appears to be closer to Overwatch and Marvel Rivals as a hero shooter rather than the more skill-intensive Valorant.

Yet, the objective-based gameplay could help with viewing clarity and lead to interesting team-based gameplay at a high level.

Esports titles to watch out for 2026

There are a lot of new and upcoming games which could shake the core of the esports scene next year.

At the very least, the Fighting Game Community (FGC) is thriving with a lot of new titles being released soon.

We now know Invincible VS will release on April 26th, 2026 while there’s also a lot of excitement for Marvel Tokon and Avatar Legends.

Riot Games has also revealed details for the first full esports season of 2XKO as they look to support their new fighting game.

Meanwhile, Highguard itself could face competition from another unique shooter in Deadlock.

The upcoming third-person shooter from Valve is also part MOBA in a fascinating mix of genres.

Elsewhere, the upcoming Pokémon Champions could be revolutionary for Nintendo esports fans, as the free-to-play game will combine all past Pokémon battling mechanics.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

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