Kickstarted early access MMORPG Ashes of Creation is on fire tonight as apparently its founder and boss Steven Sharif has abruptly resigned from Intrepid Studios.
“I can make a limited statement in my personal capacity and not on behalf of the company, regarding the situation,” Sharif wrote in Discord this evening. “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 that 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.”
The statement comes after players noticed that multiple Intrepid staff had set their LinkedIn accounts to “open to work” – far more than the nine laid off earlier this month. It also comes after yesterday’s stream was postponed into February, when we were meant to get the Q1 roadmap.
It’s not entirely clear what’s going to happen to the game itself, but it’s hard to imagine it could possibly stay up if a large chunk of staff has quit or been fired
Needless to say, the community is in a total uproar and people are already fleeing to Steam to try to claim refunds. Good luck.
Margaret no longer with Intrepid
byu/qbicle14 inAshesofCreation
