Ashes of Creation is living up to its name. The fantasy MMORPG came to Steam in Early Access on December 11. Less than eight weeks later, its future is in complete limbo amid staff resignations and reported layoffs. The Intrepid Studios-made open-world game raised over $3.2 million on Kickstarter back in 2017. Now its director claims that board control of the company has been stolen away from him and that those who seized it are trying to do unethical things.
“I can make a limited statement in my personal capacity and not on behalf of the company, regarding the situation,” director Steven Sharif wrote on Discord on January 31 (via PCGamesN). “Control of the company shifted away from me, and the Board began directing actions that I could not ethically agree with or carry out. As a result, I chose to resign in protest rather than lend my name or authority to decisions I could not ethically support.”
Sharif doesn’t get into what specific things the board was trying to do but said other senior staff resigned along with him and that the company is currently moving forward with mass layoffs. Intrepid is based in San Diego, California where companies must give notice before laying employees off, but the state’s database doesn’t yet show any updates for the studio. Still, the reports of sudden chaos were backed up by another former employee.
Studio communications director Margaret Krohn recently posted on LinkedIn that they’ve left the company as well. “I gave everything I had, and did my very best with what was within my power.” they wrote. “And I ask one last favor of you, please be kind to the developers, we are people who have families who have just lost our jobs after pouring our hearts and souls into Ashes of Creation.” The message continued, “As for how this all ended…I don’t really have the words. It wasn’t what I expected. But I’m holding onto the good because there was so much of it.”
A massive Kickstarter goes belly up
Ashes of Creation was pitched back in 2017 as a factions-based MMO that would eschew pay-to-win microtransactions. Backers who collectively contributed millions have now been waiting nearly a decade for launch. While it finally came to Steam Early Access in December, some backers are claiming that doesn’t count as a full 1.0 release and are demanding refunds instead. “Early bird backer,” wrote one of them. “Extremely disappointed with the behavior of this company. And yes, I will be pursuing a refund.” Another wrote, “Refund my $500 please.”
Concerns about funding for the game have hounded its development since the original Kickstarter. At the time, Sharif suggested he was the main financial backer and that Ashes of Creation would need $30 million in total to ship as promised. He denied accusations that it was essentially a “vanity project” led by an inexperienced rich guy. “First and foremost I am an MMORPG gamer,” he told MassivelyOP at the time. “I have been since I first sat down at a computer. I had the fortunate circumstance in life, to become wealthy through hard work at a young age. A couple years ago, I got very fed up with what was happening to a genre that I love. So I decided to put my money where my heart is and do something about it.”
Now early players are getting very fed up with Ashes of Creation. The Discord is in a full-on panic and owners on Steam have been review-bombing the game. The user rating sits at an “overwhelmingly negative” 30 percent and players are predicting the MMO’s imminent cancelation. “Since Ashes of Creation will be shutting down soon, purchasing the game right now might be a bad idea,” reads one of the most recent Steam reviews. But Intrepid itself hasn’t confirmed what the actual plan is right now. Just last week it promised a developer update on February 13 to address recent complaints over the game’s biggest design and performance issues. ”
“We know that some of you are frustrated right now. We feel that. You’ve been candid about the issues impacting your experience, and you deserve clarity and honesty in return,” a January 29 blog post read. “[The game’s setting of] Verra is still growing. We remain deeply committed to making it a world worthy of your time, your stories, and your belief.” It was signed “The Ashes of Creation Team,” whoever that still is.