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It was only a matter of time before the former developers behind the Kickstarter MMORPG Ashes of Creation fought back against Intrepid Studios following its sudden and unexpected collapse two weeks ago.
Last week, former technical director Zakary Strange, former VFX artist Noah Ortega, and former gameplay engineer Jacob Burdecki filed suit against their former employer, alleging violations of labor laws.
The suit filed by Burdeki and Strange alleges that Intrepid Studios unlawfully terminated the plaintiffs and 200 other employees without advance written notice and did not pay them for their final weeks of work or for their accrued paid time off. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) act states that employers must give employees at least 60-days’ notice before a mass layoff.
Ashes of Creation launched in early access to mixed results in December after raising $3.2 million through its Kickstarter campaign.
In January, Intrepid Studios laid off 200 employees. Intrepid Studios’ director Steven Sharif made the initial announcement via Discord. At the time, many of the displaced workers took to LinkedIn and social media to confirm the news.
Intrepid Studios still has yet to issue an official statement. Steam removed the ability to purchase the game from its platform and issued refunds to some players.
“Pursue a refund, you deserve it:” Former Ashes of Creation Dev Advocates for Player Refunds
The highly-anticipated MMORPG Ashes of Creation could be shutting down. Will Steam issue refunds?
Former communications director Margaret Krohn is organizing a virtual job fair for those impacted by the layoffs. Interested parties can fill out this form to be connected with former Intrepid Studios developers.
This likely isn’t the last we’ve heard about the unfortunate saga of Ashes of Creations’ development. It still remains unclear if the MMORPG will continue —though, with the extreme reduction in workforce, it seems unlikely —or whether initial Kickstarter investors are entitled to refunds following the game’s apparent collapse.