Ashes of Creation Recent Steam Reviews Plummet as Development Team Leaves Company

The videogame industry has been struggling recently, as players have been trying to find new MMORPG titles to sink their teeth into. Blizzard's World of Warcraft remains the unrivalled king after over two decades of launch, with no other title being able to compete against this titan.

One title that was set to be the "World of Warcraft killer" (or the latest one to launch) was Ashes of Creation. This Kickstarter darling launched on the 1st of May 2017, nearly 10 years ago, as Steven Sharif announced just an hour later that it had reached $300,000 (about £219,742) in just the first hour.

It wasn't long before the Kickstarter project smashed its goals, smashed all of the stretch goals, and then revealed more, only to hit several of those as well. At the end of its campaign, Ashes of Creation had received $3,271,809 (about £2,396,518), far surpassing its original goal of $750,000 (£549,356) goal.

It was a few years of tumultuous development, but the title was ultimately released in Steam Early Access on the 11th of December of last year, 2025, giving players the opportunity to start their adventure. It's all-time peak hit 31,882 players at any given point, though its reviews stagnated at Mixed at the time.

Not long after, the title hit a major controversy. Announced on the Discord channel, the developer Steven Sharif said that the control of the company allegedly shifted away, and eventually — due to ethical differences — he claimed he had stepped down. Now, according to the message, several other developers have followed suit, with Sharif stating that several other developers had also left Intrepid Studios, following the issuance of a WARN Act notice.

There hasn't been an official statement regarding the departure of Steven Sharif and other developers from Intrepid Studios — the latest communication from the development team was A Director's Letter to the Citizens of Verra, which touches on the worries that the community has and that the upcoming Development Update will be streamed on Twitch on the 13th of February 2026. There have been a lot of rumours regarding the official closure of Ashes of Creation, though no official statement from any member within Intrepid Studios has yet been issued.

However, shortly after Steven Sharif's statement, Ashes of Creation received a large amount of negative reviews, with 71% of the 2,897 reviews in the last 30 days being negative at the time of writing. Many are calling this an "expected" downfall, with others requesting refunds on Steam and being unable to attain them due to playing longer than the expected time.

While there has been no confirmation that Ashes of Creation is shutting down, discussion surrounding a potential WARN Act notice has fuelled concerns about the project’s long-term stability. The WARN Act requires advance notice of mass layoffs or closures, but does not in itself indicate an imminent shutdown. However, the timing of these concerns — coming shortly after the game’s Early Access launch on Steam — has led some community members to question whether Intrepid Studios was financially prepared to sustain the MMORPG post-launch.

Intrepid Studios has not commented on the current state of Ashes of Creation, the WARN Act, and the alleged departure of Steven Sharif and other development staff. If you're looking to pick up the title, we advise keeping an eye open for more information from the development team and the upcoming Development Update.