20 Trailers So Bad They KILLED Video Games
4. Highguard
If Highguard's trailer was shown in a regular context, it would've avoided the scrutiny it endured. Sadly, Wildlight's free-to-play shooter was unveiled at the final slot of The Game Awards 2025.
To build up as much anticipation as possible, this placement is normally reserved for a recognised IP or well-known studios. Instead, audiences got a short flashy trailer for a generic PvP shooter.
To be fair, Highguard has some hefty talent behind it, since it was helmed by former developers of Apex Legends and Titanfall. With that said, the trailer didn't emphasise any of Highguard's core mechanics or highlight why it deserved the most coveted slot at the biggest video gaming ceremony.
Compounding the issue, the developers went mostly silent on marketing, so Highguard had little context or follow-up information. Basically, nobody was excited because the creators gave the gaming community zero reason to be.
Although Highguard brought in almost 100,000 concurrent players on Steam upon release, the player count dropped by 80% within a day. Due to Highguard's technical issues, optimisation problems, and long matchmaking queues, it's a wonder why the creators were keen to show it off at The Game Awards so badly.