Highguard's 5v5 raid is 'here to stay' after developer noticed half the playerbase jumped over to its experimental mode at the weekend

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Apparently there was a "fairly even split" between 3v3 and 5v5.

Highguard: A character walking towards the camera and shooting his rifle at something off screen.
(Image credit: Wildlight Entertainment)

One of Highguard's biggest criticisms has been that limiting teams to 3v3 makes things feel awfully lonely on a big ol' empty map. Players asserted pretty early on that it's a game much better suited to a 5v5 setup, something which developer Wildguard ended up entertaining a mere four days after release.

It experimented with a 5v5 raid mode over the weekend, but maintained that it wasn't meant to be a replacement for its standard 3v3 mode. Well, that's still true, but it seems like trying out larger parties proved so successful that Wildguard is turning it into its own permanent game mode.

"You've been asking, and we're happy to share—5v5 mode is here to stay," an X post from the official Highguard account reads. "We appreciate everyone hopping in over the weekend to give the mode a try. We saw a fairly even split between 3v3 and 5v5, which helped inform our decision."

The replies underneath the X post seem pretty jazzed. One person wrote: "GREAT MOVE! I'm glad [Wildguard] are making great decisions after launch," to which the Highguard account responded "Appreciate it! Team is continuing to cook as we speak." Another said "Big W seeing the devs act on the positive feedback".

It's interesting to see that there was still a pretty healthy divide between both modes, signalling that 3v3 is still relatively popular despite what the masses seem to be vocalising. I assumed everyone would have jumped ship immediately, but it's not quite that dramatic.

Whether things'll skew one way or the other now that 5v5 is here for good remains to be seen, and I wonder if Highguard will eventually drop one of them altogether. Or maybe Wildguard will go in the complete opposite direction and add even more—a 4v4 or a 6v6 mode, perhaps?

Probably not, though there does seem to be some kind of hunger to see a 4v4 mode which one X user reckons would be "the sweet spot". But it's still early days and arguably the best time for this sort of fandangling and fine-tuning—figuring out what feels good and what doesn't.

Mollie Taylor
Mollie Taylor
Features Producer

Mollie spent her early childhood deeply invested in games like Killer Instinct, Toontown and Audition Online, which continue to form the pillars of her personality today. She joined PC Gamer in 2020 as a news writer and now lends her expertise to write a wealth of features, guides and reviews with a dash of chaos. She can often be found causing mischief in Final Fantasy 14, using those experiences to write neat things about her favourite MMO. When she's not staring at her bunny girl she can be found sweating out rhythm games, pretending to be good at fighting games or spending far too much money at her local arcade.  

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