Highguard - Concord 2.0?

[Lucas Silva #4903141]

Jesus. They really are allergic to attractive humans.

Yeah. It really isn't that hard.
I play none of Overwatch, and you know what I noticed? A new character named Domina.

Keep in mind, these are artists doing this all on their own, afaik. So, that's free advertisement for the game, which can end up in the eyes of people unfamiliar with Overwatch (hi).

I just don't get this mentality that attractive female designs = problematic. At conventions, many cosplayers are female, and surprise, they do not mind cosplaying hot characters. In fact, you'll find that women also like hot female characters.


Anyways, there's another video about Highguard's failure from TheNCSmaster (someone who pops up every now and then on video game twitter):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-u-d63tTpg

 

[Asian tech support]

Highguard Character Concept Artist Cristina Laviña Ferez posted these concepts of current and unreleased characters for the game. She mentioned that the characters were designed in 2-3 weeks max, so either this was a last-minute crunch, or other mismanagement.

View attachment 8569217

Here's two unreleased character concept arts:

Onyx:
View attachment 8569218 View attachment 8569219 View attachment 8569220
View attachment 8569221 View attachment 8569222 View attachment 8569223

Koldo:
View attachment 8569226 View attachment 8569227 View attachment 8569228 View attachment 8569230

Even the concept art comparisons to the final product of the current characters weren't much different, which shows the lack of time in designing them:

Scarlet:
View attachment 8569233 View attachment 8569234

JOHN HIGHGUARD (I think):
View attachment 8569236 View attachment 8569238

Armor guy looks like Al from FMA. I wonder if that was why he never made it past concept.

 

[NerdShamer]

I just don't get this mentality that attractive female designs = problematic.

It's makes it harder for the troons are into programming to actually live out their dream job when it involves reminding them on how poorly they'll pass with their own pair of basketball tits.

 

[Prune Tracy]

I captured highguard's first time reaching a single digit low for the first time. Predicting by the end of this week, or early next week it'll hit the first triple digit peak. Possible announcement of a shutdown by the end of the month.

Outlived Concord 1.

 

[Toxic BRAAAAP Mask]

Highguard Character Concept Artist Cristina Laviña Ferez posted these concepts of current and unreleased characters for the game. She mentioned that the characters were designed in 2-3 weeks max, so either this was a last-minute crunch, or other mismanagement.

View attachment 8569217

Here's two unreleased character concept arts:

Onyx:
View attachment 8569218 View attachment 8569219 View attachment 8569220
View attachment 8569221 View attachment 8569222 View attachment 8569223

Koldo:
View attachment 8569226 View attachment 8569227 View attachment 8569228 View attachment 8569230

Even the concept art comparisons to the final product of the current characters weren't much different, which shows the lack of time in designing them:

Scarlet:
View attachment 8569233 View attachment 8569234

JOHN HIGHGUARD (I think):
View attachment 8569236 View attachment 8569238

They all look the same, in a bad way. First thought on seeing that Onyx character was of a guntroon, and that is not the response you want. Koldo looks ok but that's been done to death. Might be a cooler spin if he was ceramic or statue-y. This was definitely a shitshow to produce the most blandest characters and tropes.

 

[Astro Galactic Megalul]

Highguard Character Concept Artist Cristina Laviña Ferez posted these concepts of current and unreleased characters for the game. She mentioned that the characters were designed in 2-3 weeks max, so either this was a last-minute crunch, or other mismanagement.

View attachment 8569217

Here's two unreleased character concept arts:

Onyx:
View attachment 8569218 View attachment 8569219 View attachment 8569220
View attachment 8569221 View attachment 8569222 View attachment 8569223

Koldo:
View attachment 8569226 View attachment 8569227 View attachment 8569228 View attachment 8569230

Even the concept art comparisons to the final product of the current characters weren't much different, which shows the lack of time in designing them:

Scarlet:
View attachment 8569233 View attachment 8569234

JOHN HIGHGUARD (I think):
View attachment 8569236 View attachment 8569238

She's a good artist, and designs are certainly a step above Concord. While initial roster of heroes is somewhat bland, at the end of the day gameplay is the main reason people turned away from it.

 

[Cyberfunk]

So, let's get back to the laid off Highguard developer who ranted earlier here:

There is an update

https://x.com/Joshiepoo25/

View attachment 8564357
Josh Sobel deleted his twitter account.
By searching joshiepoo25, you can find plenty of people dunking on his big post (mostly the one before the apples post). Did he have other accounts? Is he coping on bluesky?

Oh wow it's been years since I've heard from Josh Sobel! I didn't think it would be in relation to the Highguard controversies yikes. I mean I know he worked on the game through linkedin which is interesting cuz he was mostly a rigger for films before, maybe he has had to look for jobs in gaming since the regular animation industry is in shambles as far as stable jobs go.

For context Josh's work was promoted a lot in all the 3D animation courses I took 10 years ago. Actually there were so many people studying 3D animation in different schools that were encouraged to use his rigs, specially Kayla and Bonnie https://www.joshsobelrigs.com/ https://www.friggingawesome.com/
He is good at providing tools for 3D animation specially for those who want to have an animation reel with the "pixar/disney" style but that's what he is, a rigger and technical artist, not somebody who should be dealing with the bad PR the Game Awards trailer got, he doesn't even do any game design. Looks like he brought this upon himself though.

As for what happened with this game, this is too hopeful but this should be the kind of news that makes the TGAs lose relevance alongside AAA gaming, Highguard had nothing special going on and yet it was listed as the "big reveal" of the night. Sadly I know too many people that tune into TGAs now that E3 is gone. Some of the games they have shown are still not out yet and might go through dev hell before meeting the same fate as this one.

 

[sodaboard]

Jesus. They really are allergic to attractive humans.

FEMALE. LONG BLONDE HAIR. WHITE. SLENDER. FIRM THIGHS AND ASS. BIG TITS. There, you've just designed the most popular fucking character. Clone her, make her six inches shorter, make her hair brown, shrink her tits, give her a tan (NOT a nigger, but a white woman with a TAN), and you've just designed your second most popular fucking character. Add a generic short flat-chested redhead and you'll grab the loli crowd too. Boom. I just made three breakout characters for LITERALLY ANY GAME YOU EVER WANT TO MAKE.

How did these dumbasses fuck this up so hard?

but what if i like tall women

 

[moocow]

but what if i like tall women

Muscular Amazonian archetype 43 subtype 2, skin color as per player's discretion. Throw it in, that'll be "popular character number 4." Put out some art of her choking some poor schmuck unconscious with her thighs and you'll double the player base.

 

[The Lаughing Man]

but what if i like tall women

Muscular Amazonian archetype 43 subtype 2, skin color as per player's discretion. Throw it in, that'll be "popular character number 4." Put out some art of her choking some poor schmuck unconscious with her thighs and you'll double the player base.

There's one, without the sex appeal and no face reveal.

Post in thread 'Highguard'

Jan 26, 2026

So this thing is supposed to be a woman


The only reason I could tell was because of this skin


But other than her, that's the only character who really looks DEI besides the normal multiracial characters.

• Professor Donger

Reactions: x 1 x 2 x 1 x 1 x 8 x 1

 

[sodaboard]

There's one, without the sex appeal and no face reveal.

Post in thread 'Highguard'

Jan 26, 2026

So this thing is supposed to be a woman


The only reason I could tell was because of this skin


But other than her, that's the only character who really looks DEI besides the normal multiracial characters.

• Professor Donger

Reactions: x 1 x 2 x 1 x 1 x 8 x 1

that is not what i wanted

 

[Soyjak Enjoyer]

Highguard Character Concept Artist Cristina Laviña Ferez posted these concepts of current and unreleased characters for the game. She mentioned that the characters were designed in 2-3 weeks max, so either this was a last-minute crunch, or other mismanagement.

I mean if you do a side by side you can tell something was lost in the jump to 3d. Like these were the 3 characters I thought looked the worst in-game but they at least look presentable



If the concept art was the first thing you saw about this game you wouldn't be excited but you wouldn't be shouting "Concord 2" like everyone did when they saw the trailer. Whereas with concord the concept art looked as bad as the game

And also man are they retarded for not launching with the quirky witch girl there is definitely a breed of gooners that'd appeal to. Hell she should've been the mascot over the generic knight guy. I get that he feels more like the protagonist or whatever, but there's a reason overwatch used the energetic girl in skintight clothes as their mascot (and later cute animu fox girl and quirky martian girl) rather than the gorilla scientist, even if the gorilla was actual the leader and encapsulated the brand better

 

[moocow]

There's one, without the sex appeal and no face reveal.

Ah, that's subtype 4 -- "fugly titless freak." They need to swap back to subtype 2 -- "tits big enough to build a house on" -- then they'll have a shot.

 

[NerdShamer]

And also man are they retarded for not launching with the quirky witch girl there is definitely a breed of gooners that'd appeal to. Hell she should've been the mascot over the generic knight guy.

Honestly, most of the concept art is fairly mid, but that's kind of the point. But one thing that caught my eye is how nearly everyone is just wearing some form of leather armor when they're running around with assault rifles and breaching charges (which looks ridiculously stupid). I get that firearms have pushed most forms of body armor off the cliff, but also having everyone look like an transplant from ancient Greece just feels like one of the bigwigs had an boner for Horizon: Zero Dawn

 

[LecherousGranolaBar]

Highguard Character Concept Artist Cristina Laviña Ferez posted these concepts of current and unreleased characters for the game. She mentioned that the characters were designed in 2-3 weeks max, so either this was a last-minute crunch, or other mismanagement.

View attachment 8569217

Here's two unreleased character concept arts:

Onyx:
View attachment 8569218 View attachment 8569219 View attachment 8569220
View attachment 8569221 View attachment 8569222 View attachment 8569223

Koldo:
View attachment 8569226 View attachment 8569227 View attachment 8569228 View attachment 8569230

Even the concept art comparisons to the final product of the current characters weren't much different, which shows the lack of time in designing them:

Scarlet:
View attachment 8569233 View attachment 8569234

JOHN HIGHGUARD (I think):
View attachment 8569236 View attachment 8569238

Deeply unserious company if they only gave this poor woman 2-3 weeks to design every character in the game. Ive seen a lot of pointless staffers on their payroll too. A lot of "outsource managers" and even a "head of studio culture" in there for no reason. The fuck is outsource manager even do? Email the 3rd worlders working on this trash?

Jesus. They really are allergic to attractive humans.

FEMALE. LONG BLONDE HAIR. WHITE. SLENDER. FIRM THIGHS AND ASS. BIG TITS. There, you've just designed the most popular fucking character. Clone her, make her six inches shorter, make her hair brown, shrink her tits, give her a tan (NOT a nigger, but a white woman with a TAN), and you've just designed your second most popular fucking character. Add a generic short flat-chested redhead and you'll grab the loli crowd too. Boom. I just made three breakout characters for LITERALLY ANY GAME YOU EVER WANT TO MAKE.

How did these dumbasses fuck this up so hard?

It really is just this simple. Ive said it in this thread even but compare the crap western studios put out vs Hoyo. A Chinese company that runs 3 concurrent, very successful gacha games. It's all hot chicks for the dudes, femboys for the fujos/fags and hot beastmen for the straight women and fags. They just get it. If I ever stumbled into running a game company that needed to crank out a successful live service type game, I'm copying them bar for bar.

 

[Thiletonomics]

Deeply unserious company if they only gave this poor woman 2-3 weeks to design every character in the game. Ive seen a lot of pointless staffers on their payroll too. A lot of "outsource managers" and even a "head of studio culture" in there for no reason. The fuck is outsource manager even do? Email the 3rd worlders working on this trash?

It was 2-3 weeks per character, but that's still a very short amount of time for character design in a game that had a Hero Shooter part to it.

Being the only character concept [artist] for the project and managing mtx [microtransactions] was a huge challenge for me.

Most of these characters were designed from beggining to an end in 2-3 weeks max. One week for exploration and ref gathering, second week for concept refinement and another extra in case there's props and attitude sheets to do. Within these weeks, I had to take time from the character to lead the mtx [microtransaction] team, so in reality, time was spread thin. Luckily, there was a clear vision for Onyx from the beggining!

I'm not sure if she volunteered to help out with the MTX team, or if the management was so awful that she was one of the many that got shuffled into unrelated roles.

 

[Toxic BRAAAAP Mask]

Imagine letting them list you worked on Concord

 

[0 0]

The current rumor is that a vast majority of all elements of the game were outsourced, from code, to art, to modeling. The "team" within the organization itself were responsible for outsourcing, hence the schizophrenic disparities. The character models look so underwhelming compared to the concept art because not only were concept artists not communicating with modelers, they literally never said a single word to each other at any point in time nor were aware each other existed.

 

[Astro Galactic Megalul]

The fuck is outsource manager even do? Email the 3rd worlders working on this trash?

lol yeah, the image that comes to mind is a latte-drinking LA type overseer whipping thirdworlders slaving away in asset mines

IMO that's essentially what it is. On the surface, supposedly indie dev, but under the hood same corpo AAA bullshit. Is it any wonder they produced such a generic game? It's the same design by committee trash everyone expects from EA and Ubisoft, not expression of creativity expected from indie.
It seems like someone was trying to be clever and organized AAA-level development by hiring core team to manage outsourcing, and then made up for the lacking headcount of a proper AAA studio by hiring cheap labor abroad for them to manage.
Seems like more work went toward building pipieline for MTX production than ensuring there's a even a game attached to it that people would be interested in. Either stupidly optimistic, or just plain fucking stupid.

At the end of the day, seems like the whole "I'm poor lil' indie please like me" is just a LARP, there's allegedly investors backing the studio. Ultimately, gamers hate it because it's more of the shit that they already hate - soulless corporate mold eating away at our beloved hobby, enshittificating everything.

 

[NerdShamer]

The current rumor is that a vast majority of all elements of the game were outsourced, from code, to art, to modeling.

Obligatory reminder that half of this shit can be done for free. (mostly) In fact, Epic actually released an hero shooter template at least twice. And the latest build of Unreal kind of comes with an incredibly barebones run & gun first person shooter level. Although, Lyra might have it's own share of issues, from what I've heard

Edit: There's also no shortage of "online multiplayer FPS/third person shooters" templates over on Fab. Those runs from $40 to a few hundred. But again, only an absolute retard can't figure out how to rig an assault rifle in Unreal.
But hey, if an company wants to spends a tens of thousands for jeet code for something that can be done with a week or two of R&D, then that's their problem