Ashes of Creation’s leadership team quits “in protest” as director accuses board of decisions he could “not ethically agree with or carry out”

The director and creator of Ashes of Creation, the MMORPG brought to life via the $3.2 million donated by almost 20,000 backers in 2017, has quit “in protest” against decisions his board was making that he could “not ethically agree with or carry out”.

Following a slew of unhappy messages from numerous people posted online across Discord and LinkedIn (thanks, PCGN), it appears that director Steven Sharif’s resignation triggered further resignations across “much of the senior leadership team” of Intrepid Studios, after which the Board “proceed[ed] with a mass layoff”.

Things seemed to be coming to a head towards the end of January, when, on the 27th, a notice was posted on the official website promising to address several issues and informing players that the studio was moving its Development Update to 13th February. It was signed by “The Ashes of Creation team”, and did not address the game’s future.

“I can make a limited statement in my personal capacity and not on behalf of the company, regarding the situation,” Sharif wrote on Discord a couple of days later. “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 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 that the developers and staff acted in good faith and deserved better than the uncertainty that they are now facing. I am incredibly dismayed at the situation.”

Then, overnight (31st January), director of communications Margaret Krohn confirmed on LinkedIn that their time at Intrepid Studios “has come to a close”, writing: “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”.

Players are now understandably concerned that the game they only purchased a couple of weeks ago – it released into early access on 11th December – could be in jeopardy, and the Steam page, and its subsequent reviews, is now filling up with concerns and complaints from players trying to get an answer on the game’s fate. We’ve reached out to Intrepid Studios and will update should we get a response.

Asked by someone on LinkedIn if Ashes of Creation had indeed been cancelled, Krohn replied: “I don’t work there anymore, so I can’t answer that for you. Personally, I don’t know how they would make it when the heart and soul of the product, the amazing dev team, was all laid off.”