Ashes of Creation Developer Intrepid Studios Faces Layoffs

A large number of staff at Intrepid Studios, the developer behind the massively multiplayer online game (MMO) Ashes of Creation, have resigned or been laid off following internal disputes after the game’s Early Access launch in December 2025. The situation came to light over the weekend through statements from former employees and a message shared by studio founder and creative director, Steven Sharif.

Sharif stated he stepped away from the company after control shifted to the board of directors. 

In a post shared on the game’s Discord, Sharif noted that the board began making decisions he could not “ethically agree with or carry out,” leading him to resign “in protest.” He added that much of the senior leadership team resigned soon after, and that the board then issued WARN Act notices and proceeded with a mass layoff.

Sharif stated he could not provide more detail due to ongoing legal and governance matters, but stressed that the development team “acted in good faith and deserved better than the uncertainty they are now facing.”

Ashes of Creation entered Steam Early Access in December 2025, and quickly drew criticism over bugs, performance issues, bots, and unfinished systems. On Jan 29, 2026, the studio published a development letter acknowledging those problems and announced a Twitch stream scheduled for Feb 13, 2026, at 11 am Pacific to outline short-term plans. 

Ashes of Creation Sees Player Decline After Kickstarter Success

Ashes of Creation raised $3.2 million USD from nearly 20K backers on Kickstarter in 2017, making it the platform’s eighth most successful MMO campaign and one of its top-funded games overall. Intrepid Studios was founded in 2015, and the game’s first playable alpha launched in 2019.

Before the latest cuts, the studio employed about 240 people, following the layoff of nine staff members two weeks earlier.

Player numbers have steadily declined since Ashes of Creation entered Early Access. SteamDB data shows a recent 24-hour peak of 3,671 players, with roughly 2,340 concurrent users, a sharp drop from the all-time peak of 31,882 recorded two months ago.

Sales were previously estimated at 239K units. While the game remains available on Steam Early Access, the scale of the recent layoffs and leadership departures has left the project’s future unclear.