Ashes of Creation Studio Shaken as Leadership Exits and Mass Layoffs Follow Troubled Early Access

Intrepid Studios’ leadership for the MMO Ashes of Creation has largely exited the company after internal disputes tied to its Early Access debut. Co-founder Steven Sharif resigned in protest as the board took control and WARN notices were issued, leading to mass layoffs of the roughly 240-person development team. The situation follows a rocky Early Access period, with a shrinking player base (about 6,600 peak in the last 24 hours on SteamDB) and estimated Kickstarter-backed sales around 239,000, signaling significant challenges ahead for the title.