Ashes of Creation pulled from Steam amid dramatic shutdown in yet another blow to the MMO genre

It's been a rough few years for MMO enthusiasts. Riot's League of Legends MMO has been delayed, Amazon's New World has bit the dust, and even Greg Street's Fantastic Pixel Castle is potentially facing shutdown if it doesn't secure funding. Money makes the world go round, and unfortunately the sheer scale of development costs for massively multiplayer adventures often outweighs the potential results. Ashes of Creation, however, was a beacon of hope: likely not a 'World of Warcraft killer,' but a welcome entry to a genre that's become increasingly formulaic over time. Unfortunately, that glimmer of excitement has been abruptly snuffed out, and the game is no longer available for purchase on Steam.

Ashes of Creation has been all over the news this week after developer Intrepid Studios was hit with mass layoffs and a studio closure. Creative director Steven Sharif places the blame firmly at the feet of the company's board, claiming that "the board began directing actions that [he] could not ethically agree with or carry out," leading to his eventual resignation.

The game had remained purchasable on Steam post-bombshell, and while its reviews have dropped to 'mostly negative' (enough to ward most folks off), players had criticized Intrepid for not pulling it from sale. As of Tuesday, February 3, however, you can no longer buy Ashes of Creation on Steam.

Looking at the Wayback Machine, the game was still available on Sunday, February 1, meaning that it has been removed sometime between then and now. The Steam page is still available, with an ominous letter being the last official post, which advertises a proposed dev stream on Friday, February 13.

You're still able to submit a Steam refund ticket, but some have expressed apprehension about the refund clause on the initial Kickstarter campaign. "And finally, in the case that Ashes of Creation does NOT launch, we promise to refund all backers in full," the post reads. But given AoC did technically launch in alpha, there's concern that Kickstarter backers won't receive any compensation.

The FAQs do note that the game would exist in a state of "persistent alpha" until it was ready to ship, but its surprise early access release on Steam may circumnavigate this, despite basically being branded as an alpha. The game was fully reviewable, after all, and available at a one-time premium cost.

Some players have still attempted to refund on Steam. While Valve is known for sticking to its two-hour policy, going via the 'I have a question about this game' option with an explanation of the current situation has, in some cases, prompted a response from Valve.

"I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with this game," one response reads. "We are investigating this issue further. As soon as we have more information, we'll update your ticket." That's not a confirmed refund, but hopefully the sheer volume of requests will prompt some meaningful action from Valve.

It's no secret that Ashes of Creation has been under scrutiny from the start. Its eventual $3.2 million Kickstarter pot felt a little too similar to Star Citizen's ever-mounting funding total, with some speculating that AoC would be mismanaged at best, or a scam at worst. As someone who loves MMOs, however, I dared to dream - I wanted a WoW killer; I wanted something that didn't feel like a microtransaction fiesta; I wanted that living, breathing, player-driven world.

Sadly, that simply wasn't to be. Another MMO has seemingly come and gone, and I find myself consistently disappointed that the genre has stagnated. Fingers crossed the Riot MMO actually exists, because at this point it's getting depressing.