News of a potential shutdown of Ashes of Creation developer Intrepid Studios hit over the weekend, leaving the highly-anticipated MMORPG in limbo, with no official word yet on whether the game will continue (though, with the reported layoffs, it seems dubious).
Ashes of Creation began development in 2017 with a Kickstarter campaign, and ended up raising over $3.2 million. The game launched into early access last month for $50. One month later, Intrepid Studios director Steven Sharif took to Discord to announce the studio’s collapse.
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Where does that leave early investors?
Crowdfunded games missing the mark and shutting down soon after launch isn’t exactly an unprecedented situation.
In 2023, the also highly-anticipated The Day Before – a zombie survival game – turned out to be something entirely different than what the developers originally advertised. It started as Steam’s most anticipated title, only to shut down its servers and issue refunds after release. Steam also removed the option to purchase the game.
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In that instance, Steam did issue refunds. It stands to reason that with Ashes of Creation taking a similar trajectory, players can probably expect refunds to be issued. Steam officials have not responded to emails from TheBestWarGames about the situation.
However, it looks like players are reporting their requests for refunds going through.
“Tried to apply for a refund 3 times, got denied, opened a 4th and final attempt to get a human to review and got a human reply! W Steam!” One player wrote on Reddit. They clarified that they had 10 hours of game time, which is outside the standard two-hour limit. Another player commented, “Yeah i dont think mine will be accepted with 200 hours haha.”
According to Steam’s refund policy, pre-release purchases still follow the two-hour playtime refund limit, but the 14-day refund window doesn’t start until a game officially launches.
For Early or Advanced Access titles, all playtime counts toward the two-hour cap, while pre-purchased games that aren’t playable can be refunded anytime before release, with standard refund rules applying once the game launches.
For Kickstarter investors, the refund situation is less clear. On the game’s Kickstarter page, there’s a note at the end that states refunds will be issued if the game doesn’t launch.
The question for early investors is: does early access qualify as an official launch? It’s certainly somewhat of a gray area. TheBestWarGames has reached out to Intrepid Studios for clarity, but the studio has yet to respond.
There’s been no official word on whether Ashes of Creation will continue development, nor any official word that the studio is actually shutting down. These are circumstances that Steam could consider when looking at refund requests.
Early Access Players Navigate Uncertainty
Several Intrepid Studio employees took to LinkedIn to announce their departure from the studio, with a handful of others updating their profiles to “looking for work.” Even without an official announcement, there appears to be some sort of sudden shakeup at the studio.
The last official communication was a post on the Ashes of Creation website listing quality of life issues the developers were planning to address.
Some might see this as part of the trade-off for early access: participating in a game while it’s still in development, essentially driving the car as the mechanic builds it.
Regardless, it’s a tricky situation—both for players who bought in expecting to eventually have a finished experience, and for the developers who invested time and effort into a project that hasn’t gone smoothly. In the coming days, updates or refunds could provide some clarity or relief for both sides.