Is Ashes of Creation Shutting Down?
Right now, Ashes of Creation is effectively in limbo: Intrepid Studios has issued mass layoff notices and multiple senior devs say the studio has closed, but the game client is (or was, until very recently) still accessible, and there’s been no clean, official “we’re shutting the game down forever” statement.
It’s one of those awful MMO situations where, if you log in, the world technically exists, but everything behind the curtain looks like it’s falling apart.
For a project that raised over 3.2 million dollars on Kickstarter back in 2017 and finally hit Steam Early Access in December 2025, that’s a brutal turn.
You can see why players are asking, “Is Ashes of Creation shutting down?” in the present tense, because almost every signal around the studio screams collapse, even if the store page and servers didn’t vanish overnight.
It’s less “scheduled sunset after a long life” and more “sudden derailment right after launch,” which hurts more when you remember some people just paid 50 dollars for Early Access in December.
What Actually Happened at Intrepid?
Yes, there really was a studio‑level implosion at Intrepid, kicked off by founder and creative director Steven Sharif resigning “in protest” at the end of January 2026.
In a Discord message, Sharif said control of the company had shifted away from him to a board that was pushing actions he couldn’t ethically agree with, so he chose to leave rather than sign off on those decisions.
It’s pretty rare to see a studio head use that kind of language publicly; it immediately set off alarm bells in the MMO community.
After his resignation, a big chunk of the senior leadership also walked, including longtime communications head Margaret Krohn.
Very quickly after that, WARN Act notices went out to staff, indicating a mass layoff affecting what reports describe as more than 200 employees.
On LinkedIn, multiple devs, from environment artists to audio folks, used phrases like “studio-wide shut‑down” and “recent closure of Intrepid Studios,” which is about as explicit as it gets without a press release.
What makes this sting even more is the timing. Ashes of Creation had only just launched into Steam Early Access on December 11, 2025, after nearly a decade in development and years of testing.
Some analyses estimate it sold between 250,000 and 300,000 copies on Steam at 49.99 dollars before everything blew up, even as leaked internal info pointed to cash‑flow problems and missed payroll.
From the outside, it looks like a perfect storm of financial strain, governance issues, and a launch that didn’t give the studio enough runway.
Is the Game Still Available?
As of early February 2026, Ashes of Creation has been pulled from sale on Steam, which is a huge red flag about its future.
The Early Access package that used to be listed for 49.99 dollars is gone, and the FAQ that once talked about a long road through Alpha Two, Beta One, and beyond now reads more like a relic from a different timeline.
If you already bought the game, there’s a bit of a “Schrödinger’s MMO” situation: some players report that servers are still up for existing owners, but there’s no clear roadmap, no visible active development team, and lots of people are trying to get refunds from Steam, arguing they paid for a product that fell apart barely weeks after Early Access began.
Game media outlets are treating the studio as closed and the game as effectively dead unless something dramatic changes, like a sale, a rescue deal, or a completely new owner stepping in.
The one confusing piece is a letter posted on the official site on January 29, which promised a Twitch development update on February 13 to outline Q1 plans.
Given the WARN notices and public layoff posts that followed, it’s very possible that stream never happens, or ends up being more of a “here’s what’s left” message than a normal patch roadmap.
Why Are Players Calling It a “Collapse”?
Players are calling this a collapse because, functionally, it is: a long‑running, crowdfunded MMO finally hit Early Access, then saw its founder resign, its leadership walk, a mass layoff, and studio‑wide shutdown reports, all within about 52 days of launch.
That’s not the normal arc of a struggling live game; it’s more like a rug pulled out from under both developers and the community.
There’s also a trust issue layered on top. Public filings raised questions about who actually sat on the board Sharif blamed, and Reddit threads and videos are filled with people arguing over whether this was mismanagement, over‑ambition, or something closer to a scam.
Some backers had been following Ashes since the 2017 Kickstarter, buying multiple pledge packs and spending years in Alpha tests, only to see the project implode right after the Steam launch they’d been waiting for.
For MMO fans who’ve been burned by big promises before, this understandably feels like another warning story: even a well‑funded, loudly marketed “old‑school” MMORPG with a passionate community can fall apart if the business side can’t hold.
Should You Treat Ashes of Creation as Dead?
Practically speaking, if you’re wondering whether to buy into Ashes of Creation or invest more time and money, the safest mindset is to treat the project as effectively shut down unless proven otherwise.
The developer has sent mass layoff notices, senior staff publicly say the studio has closed, the founder is gone, and the game has been removed from sale on Steam; those are not the signs of a healthy live service.
Could there be a twist later, some new owner, a buyout, a spiritual reboot? In theory, yes; MMO history is full of “dead” games that got picked up by someone else and re‑launched in a different form.
But banking on that kind of miracle is wishful thinking, not a plan. If you’re already in, it’s reasonable to keep an eye on official channels, watch for refund options, and, if you still love the idea of Ashes, hang onto your memories of the tests and early days rather than expecting a smooth road to 1.0.
Disclaimer:
This article is based on public statements, developer social media posts, community reports, media coverage, and platform listings available as of early February 2026. Details about studio status, layoffs, sales figures, server availability, and the future of Ashes of Creation are subject to change and may not reflect Intrepid Studios’ official position if new announcements are made. The content is for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not endorsed by Intrepid Studios, Steam, or the game’s developers.
