The majority (potentially all) employees from Intrepid Studios have been impacted by a recent layoff.
This mass layoff occurred after Steven Sharif decided to resign from his position from what he stated was a disagreement with the board.
To be more specific, he stated “Control of the company shifted away from me, and the Board began directing actions that I could not ethically agree with or carry out. As a result, I chose to resign in protest rather than lend my name or authority to decisions I could not ethically support. Following my resignation, much of the senior leadership team resigned. Following those departures, the Board made the decision to issue WARN Act notices and proceed with a mass layoff.”
Regardless of if the scenario Steven stated above is true or not, the result is the same – the loss of jobs for many. Employees at Intrepid Studios were sent the following notice.
This letter calls out a few major items, including the following:
- There were financial issues.
- Payroll scheduled for February 1, 2026 cannot be processed due to the company’s current financial condition.
- Regarding benefits, company-sponsored health insurance coverage may be affected by changes in employment status.
Based on the actions of many of those impacted by this decision, it’s evident that they likely had no idea all of this was happening. The lives of these employees at Intrepid Studios have been negatively impacted by all of this drama, and many seemed to be truly passionate, hard-working individuals.
Some developers even jumped onto the live servers of Ashes of Creation after they received the news and shouted a global message with an apology that things have turned out this way (pictured below).
The message states, “We truly did our best. Out of our control. You guys are incredible and keep on keeping on <3”.
Additionally, some developers provided in-game gifts to a handful of players as a bit of a goodbye present, including auto-leveling characters to level 25 (current max level), gifting exclusive mounts, and more.
Clearly, many of these developers had good intentions along the development process of Ashes of Creation and are now in a rough patch. Not only did many of them lose their jobs, but they are also being told that they will not be receiving their upcoming paycheck and that their health benefits could be affected.
The note below is currently being shared throughout the community and is supposedly from a former Intrepid Studios employee.
Earlier today (February 3, 2026), much of the contents within this note was further validated by Margaret Krohn, former Director of Communications & Marketing at Intrepid Studios. She posted the following statement across multiple platforms, including the official Ashes of Creation Reddit channel (see post here).
Regardless of your stance or thoughts around the development of Ashes of Creation, there is one thing we can all agree on – many of these employees do not deserve to be treated this way.
If you are a hiring manager or recruiter within the gaming industry, and would like to support these developers with future employment opportunities, consider participating in the job fair mentioned above.
Here is the direct link to a participation form to get involved: https://forms.gle/eUeeKffGizBrMBB48
Stay tuned for more updates on the future of Ashes of Creation.
