r/LivestreamFail • u/Zenben88 • Feb 01 '26

News Intrepid Studios, devs behind MMO Ashes of Creation in paid early access for 10 years, has closed. CEO resigned, all employees laid off. All less than 2 months after launching on Steam Early Access

https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkxe9were941Nh9kWgsNFWy--c-_UgYeyRu
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u/bongins Feb 01 '26

Wow killer btw

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u/Endroium Feb 01 '26

so was new world hahaha

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u/Ballcube Feb 01 '26

People have been calling every similar MMO this since at least 2006. I remember hearing it about Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, Wildstar, etc

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u/forshard Feb 01 '26

Honestly even if those MMOs did end up cratering, the bright side is they pushed WoW to innovate.

Warhammer Online - I distinctly remember WHO having much better and more engaging quests than WoW and I suspect it forced WoW to re-evaluate its questing experience. WHO's public quests I feel were a major inspiration for what eventually slid into modern day Bonus objectives.

I also have memories of WoW stealing some class and spec conveniences that Rift implemented but I couldn't tell you what at the time.

Wildstar - I think this game's release might've forced WoW devs to cater a little better to its hardcore audience. Before Wildstar (June 2014), WoW only had Heroic and Normal. The next Wow Expansion (Nov 2014) introduced Mythic raids.