As Highguard faces widespread performance issues, dev releases first patch and says it reduces crashes by 90%, "gives better performance control," and "significantly" improves overall stability

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As Highguard faces widespread performance issues, dev releases first patch and says it reduces crashes by 90%, "gives better performance control," and "significantly" improves overall stability News By Jordan Gerblick published 29 January 2026

Major crash, matchmaking, and friends list problems have also been addressed, says Wildlight

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Highguard's first big patch is here, and it seems to be geared mostly toward improving performance, a smart move considering that's one of the biggest pain points that's emerged since the controversial shooter's launch earlier this week.

Following a puzzling debut trailer at The Game Awards 2025 that really struggled to distinguish Highguard from the pile of dead live-service shooters rotting behind the curtains - not to mention warrant its position as the show's big closer - Wildlight's fairly generic-looking hero shooter launched this week to, you guessed it, pretty bad reviews and lackluster player counts. Naturally, folks have all sorts of gripes for different reasons, but one prevailing criticism - even from people enjoying the game generally - is that Highguard just doesn't run very well. And it seems Wildlight wasn't kidding when it said it was "listening to feedback," as the game's first patch is here and largely performance-shaped.

Per the official patch notes for Highguard version 1.0.4 and an accompanying press release, there's an expanse of new togglable graphics and video settings that should give you "better performance control." Specifically, Anisotropic Materials, Chromatic Aberration, and Bloom can now be toggled on and off as you see fit to optimize performance. There are also new DLSS presets and you can now opt to toggle off Global Illumination entirely. Wildlight says it's working on a way to allow for Motion Blur and Depth of Field to be disabled "safely," but that needs more testing.

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Meanwhile, Wildlight says various bugs have been fixed, including one that "throttled laptop users to 60 FPS regardless of frame rate settings," and another that was preventing friends from seeing each other online. Overall, Wildlight assures "major crash fixes have reduced crashes by 90%, significantly improving stability" overall.

I'm hesitant to share my experience as it's completely anecdotal, but I became curious enough researching this story that I wanted to find out firsthand what all the fuss, positive and negative, was about. Purposefully putting Highguard through the wringer on my ancient RX 580 desktop instead of my newer, more powerful laptop, I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly it ran even with some settings juiced up beyond their defaults. As for the actual gameplay, I'll need a little more time to decide if Highguard deserves its "mostly negative" Steam rating, but after today's patch, my impressions are that it's actually very well-optimized.

I love Highguard's 2Fort-style sieges – when they actually happen

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Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. CATEGORIES Xbox Series X PS5 PC Gaming Platforms Xbox PlayStation Jordan GerblickSocial Links Navigation

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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Logout Read more Following a divisive launch, Highguard devs have been "working to add some highly requested features"    Highguard's Steam rating goes from 'Mostly Negative' to 'Mostly Positive' when filtering reviews by playtime    I love Highguard's 2Fort-style sieges – when they actually happen    Hours after launch, Highguard has "Mostly Negative" reviews and a peak of 97,000 players on Steam    New FPS Highguard has a full year of updates "deep in development," split up to counteract "live-service fatigue"    Former FPS pro Shroud says Highguard's "vision is there," but tech problems are holding the fantasy shooter back    Latest in FPS Games All Highguard weapons for your loadout and raiding, and the best ones to use    Baldur's Gate 3 publishing lead says "game development runs on optimism" as the industry comes to Highguard's defense    I love Highguard's 2Fort-style sieges – when they actually happen    How Highguard crossplay works and how to play with your friends    Highguard's Steam rating goes from 'Mostly Negative' to 'Mostly Positive' when filtering reviews by playtime    Following a divisive launch, Highguard devs have been "working to add some highly requested features"    Latest in News Highguard gets its first major patch, dev says it "significantly" improves overall stability and reduces crashes by 90%    The spirit of Garry's Mod takes residence in World of Warcraft with a 5v5 Prop Hunt mode set to hit the MMO this year    God of War show goes full Ragnarok as it casts Odin and Thor    Baldur's Gate 3 was $60 in Early Access and "I never loved that approach," No Rest For the Wicked dev says of new price    Silent Hill legend doesn't think the franchise has changed, since Konami's "philosophical approach" is still the same    "I really love the Persona series – especially Persona 3," says Dragon Quest 7 remake dev, director names Final Fantasy    GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS

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