After 10 years of development, it appears that Intrepid Studios is collapsing and its Ashes of Creation massively multiplayer online role-playing game is shutting down.
Steven Sharif, founder and creative director of Ashes of Creation, said in a Discord server post that he lost control of the company and resigned as a result of board actions he did not agree with. He said he resigned in protest, as did much of the senior leadership team.
After that, the board issued layoff notices and proceeded with a mass layoff of an estimated 250 employees. Here’s Sharif’s post:
I can make a limited statement in my personal capacity and not on behalf of the company, regarding the situation. 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. Following my resignation, much of the senior leadership team resigned. Following those departures, the board made the decision to issue WARN Act notices and proceed with a mass layoff.
I cannot responsibly speak to further details at this time due to ongoing legal and governance matters. What I can say is the developers and staff acted in good faith and deserved better than the uncertainty they are now facing. I am incredibly dismayed by the situation.
Sharif, a wealthy entrepreneur and an MMO fan, started to make the game in 2016. He personally funded it in the early years. In 2017, the game had a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that raised $3 million.
It promised to build a fully dynamic world, a node system that changed cities, quests and politics. It would have massive PvP sieges and no pay-to-win. It was built on Unreal Engine 4 early on, but it slipped its schedule. It underwent a reboot in 2020 and switched to Unreal Engine 5.The alpha launched in 2021, but the scope ballooned and the schedule slipped.