Highguard developer reinstates X account, expresses regret

Highguard, released on January 26, 2026, officially goes offline tomorrow, just 45 days later, on March 12, 2026. In that brief period it became the subject of intense online discourse, and non-players who celebrated its struggles looked for people to target. Josh Sobel, a former Wildlight developer who lost his job after the release, deactivated his X account after calling out that behavior; he has since reactivated it and published an explanation.

Sobel had posted a now-deleted account of his experiences from the Game Awards reveal through the abuse he received on his socials and the role he believed the hostile audience played in the game’s failure. He wrote on February 12, “I’m not saying our failure is purely the fault of gamer culture and that the game would have thrived without the negative discourse, but it absolutely played a role.” The post drew heavy backlash and prompted him to step away.

highguard, wildlight, josh sobel, x account, game awards, gamer culture, negative discourse, social media, hostile audience, january 26