Ashes of Creation is the next in a long line of crowdfunded MMOs which have failed to live up to expectations and folded soon after.
If you've not been following this puzzling saga, here's a quick summary. Ashes of Creation was the most successful MMO crowdfunding campaign ever, raising $3.3 million for developer Intrepid Studios in 2017. Fast-forward eight years, and Intrepid Studios has announced mass layoffs. The studio founder, Steven Sharif, resigned from the company while claiming the board of directors seized control of the company and asked him to carry out unethical orders.
It's strange because, for years, Sharif claimed Intrepid had no investors or executives that it was beholden to, because of the money gained from the Ashes of Creation crowdfunding. Then, Sharif is suddenly ousted by a board that has never been mentioned before. The listing for the company in state records lists only two members of the board, Sharif and his husband, John Moore. These records aren't always detailed, but the alleged existence of a new board of directors that excludes Sharif has raised a few questions.
One of the terms of the Ashes of Creation crowdfunding project was that backers would receive refunds...
