The Ashes of Creation debacle, explained

Ashes of Creation doesn’t seem to be able to leave the news. Supposedly, there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but this is an MMO you can’t play anymore, and all the news is about the alleged misdeeds that caused its collapse. What went (and is still going) wrong?

What is Ashes of Creation

In 2025, after raising over $3 million via Kickstarter and a nearly 10-year-long development cycle, Ashes of Creation, a medieval fantasy MMO in the vein of WoW, finally reached early access for $50. Many saw promise in the title, with Destructoid even making a few guides for it. Sadly, nobody really got the time to put these to much use, since the game went under shortly after, leaving its entire development team out of a job.

Usually, you can point to one main cause of collapse for a studio, but not here. Ashes of Creation‘s Intrepid Studios has spawned so much chaos that we have to put it all together to try to make some sense of it all.

What happened with Ashes of Creation?

In February 2026, about two months after entering early access, Intrepid Studios shut down the servers, laid off its entire Ashes of Creation team of around 210 employees, and failed to sign their final paychecks. Steven Sharif, the studio’s co-founder and the face of the game, allegedly resigned in protest. Noble, if true, but allegations immediately surfaced that Sharif had severely mismanaged the game’s funds, with up to $1.4 million of Kickstarter money spent on personal luxuries, with $40,000 alone being supposedly spent on trivialities such as Magic: The Gathering cards, and even private chef services.

Sharif would defend himself via lawsuit, claiming that the reason for the company’s collapse was a hostile takeover by the board of directors, though there are conflicting reports on that. Some claim that there was indeed a power struggle throughout the game’s development and short life, though one too chaotic to describe as a coup by any board of directors. Even wilder is looking at Intrepid’s own legal filings and learning that Sharif was actually the sole board member all along.

Despite these pretty damning allegations, Sharif has recently returned to defend his position once again via an 11-page document, where he blasts all the accusations and the torrent of YouTube content made exposing his alleged misdeeds, and especially investor Jason Caramanis, whom Sharif describes as a violent individual.

The document reads, “That campaign has been amplified through content creators, including those serving as a mouthpiece for Jason Caramanis, a known violent individual with multiple prior arrests. Do not mistake noise for truth,” Sharif adds, “If you genuinely care about what happened to Ashes of Creation and Intrepid Studios, and this is not directed at the casual observer, I ask that you take a moment to read today’s court filings.”

Sharif also claims to have valid receipts, some of them very aggressive and threatening emails and direct messages by Caramanis, and saying this man sounds disheveled is putting it very nicely.

And these are just the most recent developments. The entire situation is far from settled, but one thing is certain. Sadly, regardless of who’s speaking the truth and of how this debacle will come to a close, Ashes of Creation will always be an ugly stain in the world of game development, and a blow to the public trust in any honest team genuinely trying to make a game reality via crowdfunding.

The post The Ashes of Creation debacle, explained appeared first on Destructoid.

The key to winning auctions and building your empire in BidKing is often hidden behind the collectors you choose. While several options are available for you to use, you need to select carefully. Each collector has a unique skill, and some are better than the rest.

This guide will help you figure out the best collectors you can unlock and use.

Best collector skills in BidKing

The table below has a list of what I consider the best collectors in BidKing. Their skills will help you have some big advantages over your competitors before you lodge your next bid.

Collector	Skill
Aisha	Relic’s Insight	One of the very best skills to have if you can go past the first round. The skill reveals the outline based on the item’s rarity after each round. If you can enter Round 3, you’ll know how many White, Green, and Blue items are located in the lot. This is amazing information to have before you place your next bid.
Ivan	Arms Instinct	Weapons sell for higher prices, which will be highlighted by the skill. All Gear, Energy, and Transportation collectibles will also be highlighted, but I love this skill for finding out hidden weapons.
Isabella	Rare Valuation	She can immediately reveal the rarity of the highest-rarity collectible that you can find. This will immediately give you a good idea of how much profit you can possibly make from your purchase. Her skill also highlights outlines of four Gems and Minerals collectibles at random. Gems typically fetch good prices, so it’s a nice bit of information to have.
Raven	Endgame Insight	This collector is amazing if you can bid your way to the fifth round. The rarity of every collectible will be disclosed before you land in the final bid. Having that information will help you decide if you should put in a final bid or abstain from spending extra.
Victor	Value Insight	This skill will show the total number of Purple, Gold, and Red rarity collectibles. In short, you’ll have a precise idea of whether the purchase you’re about to make has anything of substantial value.
Ethan	Spatial Awareness	Ethan can reveal the outlines of five random collectible types. In the subsequent rounds, he will reveal the outlines of all known-rarity collectibles. If you reach the final round, he will reveal the outlines of every available collectible you can find.

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While every collector has unique use-case scenarios for their skills, you’ll need to predict accurately. Overbidding too much can make you take a loss and erase your credits. Unfortunately, none of the collectors mentioned on the table above are available for free, but you can unlock them for free using the in-game goodies that you’ll get at launch.

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