The comparison with ARC Raiders is telling here. Embark Studios went through years of closed and open tests, changing almost beyond recognition. Early versions were only a framework, while constant feedback from the community and developer iterations created a project that players keep coming back to.
Highguard had no such stages. An announcement just a few weeks before release at The Game Awards and the absence of public tests immediately doomed the game to the label "Concord 2.0" - harsh, but largely fair.
The example of Bungie and Marathon shows that criticism can be useful: the studio listened to players and refined the project. The lesson is clear: releasing a multiplayer game without dialogue with players in 2026 almost always leads to failure, layoffs, and the closure of the studio.