MMORPG Ashes of Creation Faces Crisis: Founder Departs and Developers Laid Off

In 2017, the MMORPG Ashes of Creation developed by Intrepid Studios raised nearly $3.3 million through a crowdfunding campaign. This achievement marked the highest fundraising total for an MMO and placed it among the most successful campaigns in the gaming industry. Although the project appeared to be on track for a bright future, unexpected developments cast a shadow over the MMORPG’s prospects.

was marketed to the public as a “truly living” MMO where players’ actions influence their surroundings and decisions genuinely matter. The first paid alpha tests commenced in 2021, with early access launching in December 2025. However, everything began to unravel just a few days later.

Towards the end of January, the Ashes of Creation community started to fervently discuss rumors regarding layoffs at Intrepid Studios. On LinkedIn, communications director Margaret Krohn announced her dismissal and clarified in a comment, “I don’t know how they will continue working when the ‘heart’ of the project—its brilliant team—has been disbanded.”

Shortly thereafter, the founder of Intrepid, Steven Sharif, provided further insights into the situation. He revealed that he had to resign in protest against the actions of the board of directors. Other top executives followed suit, leading to significant layoffs at Intrepid.

Steven Sharif

Sharif is unable to elaborate further due to “ongoing legal and corporate proceedings.” He expressed, “I must say that the developers and all staff worked with integrity and deserve better than the current uncertainty. What is happening fills me with profound regret,” stated the studio founder. Based on a video shared on the former Twitter, all employees of Intrepid will not receive payment for the final month due to the dire financial state of the company.

From forum and social media posts, it seems that some users have long anticipated the collapse of Intrepid. Many claimed the developers had consistently delivered subpar content and continuously extracted money from gamers in any way they could, including paid tests and numerous promises of exclusive “cosmetics” that would supposedly never be available again. “The game always felt like a scam. I’m glad I didn’t spend a dime on it,” tweeted a user known as Sato942.

Additionally, questions arose regarding the aforementioned “board of directors”—in 2020, Sharif claimed that Ashes of Creation had no investors or board of directors, asserting that funding was self-sourced.

As a result, frustrated players began demanding refunds and started posting negative reviews. As of the time of writing, the project’s rating on Steam had dropped to 45%, with recent reviews reflecting a stark decline into the “mostly negative review” territory—only 31% of reviews were positive. Users are urging one another not to purchase Ashes of Creation due to the uncertainty surrounding the studio and the game itself.

Before all this chaos unfolded, the developers of Ashes of Creation released a “Letter from the Director to the Citizens of Verra,” addressing ongoing issues with the MMO such as bugs, cheating, and subpar performance. The team promised to gradually resolve these issues and even planned a live stream on February 13 to share more about their plans for the first quarter. It remains unclear now whether this stream will still take place.