Ashes of Creation dev alleges "none of us are receiving our final paychecks" amid the MMO's sudden shutdown

Amid the chaos surrounding Ashes of Creation and its developer Intrepid Studios, one of the most prominent former members of the team has made a public statement alleging that "none of us are receiving our final paychecks, the 60 days notice and pay outlined under the WARN Act, PTO payouts, or other compensation owed." Margaret Krohn, who worked at the Ashes of Creation studio from January 2019 and was its director of communications until last week, explains that the shutdown happened "in a way that I did not expect," and shares her experience over the past seven days as everything fell apart.

Krohn's initial post from Saturday, January 31, reporting "mass layoffs" at the Ashes of Creation developer was the spark that caused details to flood out from various former employees. In the wake of this news, the studio's founder, Steven Sharif, who also acted as creative director on the MMORPG, shared a statement to its official Discord. He claimed, "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."

In Krohn's latest update, she offers a rough timeline of events leading up to this news, explaining that she waited "because I wanted to be sure I was communicating from a place of clarity." Krohn alleges that she was informed late in the workday on Wednesday, January 28, "that we would be laying off 100 developers." She writes that she was "devastated" for those affected but "believed it was something we could face together and find a path forward from."

Krohn "shared this information confidentially" with the game services team the next day, explaining to them that she was unsure who would be affected. "By the end of that day, I received confirmation of which people on my team would be impacted," she writes. She then spoke with each team member individually on Friday, January 30, "to let them know whether they were affected, so they could begin planning and preparing." She adds, "even those who knew they would be leaving offered their support - showing the grace, professionalism, and strength that defined our game services team."

However, on Saturday, January 31, Krohn claims, "we were all informed via a confusing email that we would be laid off, along with a WARN notice. It is still shocking. The entire studio gathered to try to understand what had happened and what it meant for our future." She then alleges, "In the end, none of us are receiving our final paychecks, the 60 days notice and pay outlined under the WARN Act, PTO payouts, or other compensation owed."

The United States WARN Act (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) is typically applied to companies with 100 or more employees, and "requires employers to give 60 days notice before a mass layoff, plant closure, or relocation." The Employment Development Department for the government of California lists an Intrepid Studios WARN filing on Saturday, January 31, stating a permanent closure with 123 employees recorded.

Krohn continues, "What matters most to me now are the people - both the players and developers." She addresses the game's community, explaining that "the entire development team was working extremely hard, pulling long hours, and wishes with all our hearts that we could give you Ashes of Creation. There are no words that fully express how sorry we are that this journey ended this way." She adds, "You should pursue a refund, you deserve it."

Responding to commenters on Reddit and X, Krohn says, "I rewrote these words over and over again. This was not something I published lightly. It's my livelihood, and could get me in trouble." Asked about the status of Intrepid's board and senior leadership, she replies, "I was just the person running marketing, communications, social, CS, etc. I had departments that I was focused on. I was not privy to senior C-level leadership information."

Naturally, given the ongoing nature of the situation, Krohn doesn't offer too many other details, although she notes that a group of former employees has "put together a checklist" and "are all doing what we can on the legal front including filing claims." Asked about Sharif directly, she offers one statement: "From my experience, Steven was always kind, generous, and looked out for us. This has been heartbreaking."

Krohn calls her team at Intrepid "truly a family," and adds, "The culture we built together is something I have never experienced anywhere else." She puts out a call for potential employers and states, "we will be hosting a job fair for former Intrepid Studios employees." In closing, Krohn says, "I wish I had better news. I wish our story had ended differently."

I have reached out to Intrepid Studios for comment, and will update this story with any response if we receive one. In the meantime, we'll likely be waiting a while for the fallout and legal processes surrounding this whole debacle to play out.