Highguard is in a bit of a Schrödinger’s cat situation. That’s because at the time of writing, the official site only shows the shooter’s logo, and text that reads “This site is currently unavailable. Please contact support@codethirtytwo.com for assistance,” alongside links to its official Discord server and Dwitter page. This, of course, could just be a blip, but even as I’m writing this it’s been the case for several hours, and there’s not a single word from developer Wildlight about why it’s down. So, it is both dead and not dead until someone opens the box.

This obviously isn’t an immediate confirmation that the game is shutting down, but given that last week most of the team was apparently laid off, there is certainly reason to question whether this is that famed writing on the wall you so often hear about. The silence from Wildlight in both the game’s Discord server and social pages certainly adds to the writing.

Parallel to all of this, a report has emerged from Game File that sheds a tidbit of light on how Highguard came to be. Namely, that the game was predominantly funded by Tencent. It’s been unknown up to this point just who funded the game, given Wildlight’s proud proclamation of independence.

The framing of Wildlight as an indie studio by founder Dusty Welch has been a sticking point for me since the moment I heard it, seeing as prior to the layoffs it was a 100+ person company. To hear a report that Wildlight were funded by a company as massive as Tencent doesn’t offer me any sense of vindication, more frustration at the hubris at those at the top to think they can just repeat the success they previously had many years of changing industry trends later.

Ultimately, here’s hoping that those affected by the layoffs end up on their feet, and much the same to those who may or may not be out of work by the end of the week.