News broke over the weekend of the possible closure of Ashes of Creation developer Intrepid Studios, leaving the highly anticipated MMORPG in disgrace, and there's still no official word on whether the game will continue (though that seems vague due to reported layoffs).
Ashes of Creation began development through a Kickstarter campaign in 2017, raising over $3.2 million in funding. The game was released in early access last month for $50. A month later, Intrepid Studios director Steven Sharif took to Discord to announce the studio's collapse.
Steam's new fantasy MMORPG may be coming to an end.
One of Steam's newest fantasy MMORPGs may be shutting down less than two months after the game's early access launch on the platform.
Where does this leave early investors?
It's not exactly an unprecedented situation for a crowdfunded game to fail to meet its goals and be shut down shortly after launch.
The Day Before, the highly anticipated zombie survival game also set for 2023, turns out to be completely different from what the developers originally advertised. It started out as the most anticipated title on Steam, but after launch it shut down its servers and issued refunds. Steam has also removed the option to purchase games.
In this case, Steam issued a refund. Ashes of Creation takes a similar trajectory, so players can probably expect refunds to be issued. Steam officials did not respond to GameRant's emails about the situation.
It received overwhelmingly negative reviews on Steam the day before its release.
Fans are unhappy with Fntastic's The Day Before, accusing the studio of false advertising and calling the multiplayer shooter a 'scam'.
However, it appears that players are reporting that their refund requests are in progress.
“I tried requesting a refund 3 times and was rejected, then I made a 4th and final attempt to have a human review it and a human responded! W Steam!” one player wrote on Reddit. They said they were given 10 hours of gaming time, outside the standard two-hour limit. Another player said, “Yeah I don't think mine will be accepted for 200 hours haha.”
According to Steam's refund policy, pre-release purchases are still subject to the two-hour playtime refund limit, but the 14-day refund period doesn't begin until the game is officially released.
For Early Access or Advanced Access titles, all play time counts toward the two-hour limit, and unplayable pre-purchased games can be refunded at any time before release, with standard refund rules applying after the game's release.
For Kickstarter investors, the refund situation is less clear. There's a note at the end of the game's Kickstarter page that refunds will be issued if the game doesn't run.
Questions from early investors include: Does early access qualify for official release? It's definitely a bit of a gray area. GameRant has reached out to Intrepid Studios for clarity, but the studio has yet to respond.
There's no official word on whether Ashes of Creation will continue to be developed, nor has there been any official word that the studio is actually closing. Circumstances that Steam may consider when reviewing a refund request include:
Early Access Players Explore Uncertainty
Several Intrepid Studio employees took to LinkedIn to announce they were leaving the studio, while a few others updated their profiles to say “seeking employment.” Even without an official announcement, it looks like there will be some sort of sudden shake-up at the studio.
The last official communication was a post on the Ashes of Creation website listing the quality of life issues the developers planned to address.
Some may see this as part of a trade-off for early access. This means you get to join the game while it's still in development, and essentially drive the car while the mechanic builds it.
Still, this is a tricky situation, both for players who bought it expecting a finished experience in the end, and for developers who invested time and effort into a project that didn't get off the ground. An update or refund in the coming days could provide some clarity and relief to both parties.
