As Highguard claws its way up to "Mixed" Steam reviews, devs add 5v5 mode in response to player feedback about empty maps just 5 days after launch: "You asked, we listened"

Highguard's unfortunate reveal at The Game Awards immediately made it a punching bag in the eyes of a big segment of the gaming community, and that negative sentiment carried into launch. But the Steam review score is starting to trend in a positive direction, and amid that shift developer Wildlight is addressing one of the biggest points of criticism with a new 5v5 raid mode.

"You asked, we listened," Wildlight says in a Twitter post offering a brief trailer of the 5v5 mode. In a longer Steam blog breaking down the update, the devs make clear that this is a limited-time option and not a permanent change to the game. "For the weekend, we are experimenting with a 5v5 Raid Mode," they explain. "This is a separate playlist and not meant to replace 3’s."

But the slow pace of the 3v3 matches, and the overwhelming size of the map with that low player count, has been central to criticism of Highguard, and we'll soon see how 5v5 matches liven it up. The bigger raid mode has only two other notable changes: "Raids are now 10 lives instead of 6," and "respawns are slightly longer during raids to allow generators to be planted/defused."

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"As most of you know," the devs add, "we are working on optimizations across the game. Many are in this patch and 3v3 should see good improvements! But… adding 4 more players to the game is not going to improve performance, right? Please keep that in mind as you try 5v5!"

This update coincidentally lands just as English-language Steam reviews for Highguard have reached the 41% positive mark, indicating an officially "Mixed" response – a major improvement over the "Mostly Negative" response at launch. Reviews across all languages are currently at 39% positive, which is still on the negative side of the threshold, but it's still a remarkable upward trend after those dismal early hours. How Highguard's ultimate fortunes will play out, of course, remains to be seen.

If you're giving the shooter a shot, check out our guide to the best Highguard weapons.