Ashes of Creation’s Early Access launch window is also bringing back some player concerns to the limelight

Mired in its fair share of controversy, Ashes of Creation has prospective players divided to extremes. Among the many concerns of players is the involvement of Steven Sharif, the creative director at Intrepid Studios, the devs who’ve worked on the game for the last 10 years. Steven’s background with his family-run MLM is often cited as a reason certain players are avoiding the game. Mainly dealing with nutritional supplements, one of the companies, called Xango, a former juice company, had received warnings from the FDA for making false health claims. The business model they followed was described as an MLM; however, its primary focus on recruitment has drawn some comparisons with pyramid schemes.

While these companies have nothing to do with the game or the studio, and their only connection is Sharif, some quarters remain unsatisfied. Another concern often cited by players is a video posted by popular streamer Narc, who had been covering Ashes of Creation for roughly 4 years, released a video claiming he was done covering the game, because he disagreed with the way the developers were showcasing the work. He claimed it was misleading and showed progress on things that didn’t really exist—specifically, a desert biome that he portrayed as basically incomplete. 

The video completely divided the player base; some rushed to defend the developers, while others became very skeptical and critical of them. It must be noted that popular streamer Piratesoftware shared his thoughts on the video, having over 400 hours in Alpha phase 1 and over 100 in phase 2. He denied the claims made by Narc and went on to show the area that was being discussed in the video, which showed a very different story than what Narc had made it seem like. Players were further divided when creative director Steven Sharif chimed in with a lengthy post, replying to the accusations by Narc while defending the title.

Ashes of Creation has recently appeared on Steam and announced its early access launch on the 11th of December. Early access indicated that many features may not be available, and that much of the game is subject to change. It allows the developers to actively fine-tune, implement, or amend things to work better for players. However, players expecting a more fleshed-out experience may wish to wait until the game is in a more complete state.