MMO Ashes of Creation spirals into a legal dumpster fire, as investor claims creative director Steven Sharif siphoned millions away from the company while it was drowning in debt

A wide-horned demon from Ashes of Creation stands intimidatingly during the collapsing MMO's trailer. — (Image credit: Intrepid Studios)

Ashes of Creation, a kickstarter MMO that recently imploded after it was cancelled and its dev team was laid off, has been revealed to be a hotbed of corporate drama and potential embezzling.

First, some context: Back in 2017, Ashes of Creation became one of the most successful Kickstarter projects ever, accruing $3.2 million on the site. Nine whole years later, in late January of 2026, it was formally announced by creative director Steven Sharif that he and other senior leadership had resigned, which was then followed by a mass layoff.

This is not to say that Caramanis is a saint himself, making a lot of his money via multi-level-marketing MLM company Jeunesse Global (you can see a video of him waxing lyrical about Jeunesse in 2023 here), boasting the title "Imperial Diamond Director". This is confirmed in NefasQS's video itself, though the YouTuber does state that he's "since branched" out into other business ventures and investments.

Essentially, this whole thing's a gnarled mess, and while nothing's been substantiated in a court of law just yet, Legal Mindset (Andrew Esquire) a YouTuber and corporate attorney, believes there's "there's a very high likelihood of piercing the corporate veil … you've got possible claims for fraudulent inducement, breach of implied contract and unjust enrichment for those kickstarter backers".

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.

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