The Game Awards’ grand finale reveal was a game you’ve never heard of coming out in a month

The Game Awards usually ends with a massive sequel trailer, a long-rumored remake, or a major studio’s new IP. So the 2025 show delivered an actual twist by building up to the debut of a completely original game deep into production by a debut studio. Highguard is a new shooter from a studio made up of vets from Apex Legends, Titanfall, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare — and it’s coming soon.

Wildlight Entertainment, founded in 2021, has been quietly at work for the past four years on Highguard. The free-to-play PvP raid shooter casts players in the role of Wardens, “arcane gunslingers sent to fight for control of a mythical continent.” Matches revolve around fighting rival Warden crews for the Shieldbreaker, then raiding and destroying the enemy’s base. Airships and eagle companions abound.

“With our first game, we are hyper-focused on creating a new gaming universe of similarly epic scale and quality,” said Wildlight co-founder and CEO Dusty Welch in a news release. Game director Chad Grenier echoed that sentiment, emphasizing a studio culture built around creative freedom and design-led decision making.

Unlike prior years where the teased projects’ releases are eons into the future, Highguard sounds nearly done. The game launches on Jan. 26, 2026, with cross-play and cross-progression across PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5. That’s a far cry from the multi-year waits that often follow a Game Awards mic drop.

Ending the show with a brand-new IP is a gamble. Ending it with one that’s playable in just weeks? It’s a major endorsement from host Geoff Keighley, whose business lives and dies by how much he can deliver to the hype-hungry audience. We’ll know if Highguard can deliver in under a month.