Ashes of Creation, the most successful MMO Kickstarter ever, appears to have breathed its last. Following disputes between the senior developers and the executives controlling the company, a mass layoff has taken place, with much of the company's staff now confirming that the entire development team was let go.
"As for how this all ended... I don't really have the words. It wasn't what I expected. But I'm holding onto the good because there was so much of it," wrote Margaret Krohn (via PC Gamer).
Krohn did confirm that "all" of the development team was laid off, and in a post on Ashes of Creation's Discord Intrepid founder and creative director Steven Sharif gave some more clarity. "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," he explained.
While the writing had been on the wall for some time, with Ashes of Creation not making a tremendous amount of progress in years, there was hope at the end of last week, following a letter addressing numerous problems with the game, and saying they'd be addressed. Sadly, it seems that update won't be coming anytime soon.