In May 2017, Ashes of Creation exploded onto Kickstarter. The campaign promised a new kind of MMORPG, ambitious, community-driven, and self-funded. Players rallied to the pitch, pledging more than $3.2 million to bring the project to life.
On 1 May 2017, the day of the Kickstarter launched, Steven Sharif wrote to the community:
“I intend to use those funds to bring on additional team members who can focus on building the game, as well as, include certain systems that I think will fit well into our design. I am primarily self-funding the project, but if necessary, I have made some very good friends in my previous business endeavors who are dying to invest.”
The message positioned Kickstarter support as supplemental rather than essential. Sharif presented the project’s foundation as secure through his own financing, with investors presented as only a possibility if needed.
On 4 May 2017, he reinforced the point:
“The project is being funded by myself currently. This is going to be a bigger game, content-wise, than Crowfall, and our budget and funding reflects that.”
That theme carried forward into 2019. In a March 7 Discord QnA, Sharif explained:
“Most software development, banks will not leverage as they don’t like that risk. Usually outside funds are raised through venture capitalists because they are risk oriented – however it isn’t something I have done.”
Four years later the narrative remained unchanged. Sharif shared this message in a May 2021 Reddit post:
“I’m funding the project, so no investors or a board to answer to, no publishers to appease…”
It was a powerful reassurance, a promise that Ashes of Creation was free from the compromises that came with corporate publishers or investor pressure.
Even as Sharif was making those assurances, public filings and court documents reveal a more complicated reality. Behind the scenes, Intrepid Studios already had outside creditors, one who would eventually claim a stake in the fledgling development studio.
In 2015, Intrepid Studios filed its Articles of Incorporation with the California Secretary of State. The document authorized the company to issue 10,000,000 shares of common stock, a standard placeholder for ambitious startups.
On 23 February 2017, several months before the Kickstarter Campaign, financing arrangements for Intrepid Studios began to appear. According to court filings Jason Caramanis, through the Ya-Ya Legacy Trust, entered into agreements with Intrepid Studios for a principal amount of One Million Dollars, at a 5% interest rate, with eight fixed interval payments. At each fixed interval Caramanis had the option to postpone payment or to convert any portion of the amount into Intrepid Studios Common Stock. Additionally, the original deal allowed for the Ya-Ya Legacy Trust to invest up to an additional One Million Dollars into Intrepid Studios.
In and of itself this is a fairly common financing solution for startup companies, where the startup exchanges equity for capital; however, for Intrepid Studios whose Chief Executive Officer had repeatedly stated he was financing the project it might have raised questions, if anyone outside of the company had known about it.
That 2017 promissory note was amended on 9 March 2018 which altered the conversion process from Common Stock to Preferred Stock. Between 9 March 2018 and 5 March 2019 the investment clause appears to have been executed as evidenced by the 5 March 2019 letter from the Beverly Hills Law Corp on behalf of the Ya-Ya Legacy Trust notifying Steven Sharif that the Trust had exercised their conversion rights making them a 4.4% shareholder of Intrepid.
On 21 August 2019, Intrepid Studios, Inc., via a Stock Purchase Agreement, sold another 53 shares of Preferred Stock, a 5.3% share for a total of $2,205,000 bringing the Ya-Ya Legacy Trust ownership total to 9.7%
On 14 June 2024, Caramanis acting as Trustee of the Ya-Ya Legacy Trust filed a lawsuit (37-2024-00028199-CU-WM-CTL) in San Diego Superior Court against Intrepid Studios. In this lawsuit Caramanis alleges he was denied access to the financial books and records of Intrepid Studios, including, but not limited to, a list of shareholders, meeting minutes for all meetings for the previous three years, statements of cash flow, balance sheets, and all bank statements for the proceeding three years.
The filings leave unanswered questions, such as why did Intrepid Studios not use the Kickstarter money to pay off their million dollar initial debt? Why did they elect to make no payments to the Ya-Ya Legacy Trust allowing for the full 4.4% conversion? Why did a company that claims transparent development not allow Caramanis to see the records of the company that he, via his Trust, was a partial owner of?
Those questions cannot be answered from the court filings, as Intrepid Studios did not file any documents prior to Caramanis asking for the case to be dismissed without prejudice.
This lawsuit was not the last time the Ya-Ya Legacy Trust appeared in Intrepid’s records. A later UCC filing involving the Trust will be addressed in a follow-up article, pending relevant information.
Intrepid Studios, via their in-house press email, was offered an opportunity to respond to this story and did not respond.
All information in this article is based on public filings and court documents available as of the dates referenced. The current ownership or financing structure of Intrepid Studios may have changed since those filings.
Justin Olivetti, “Massively OP Interview: Ashes of Creation on a New Way to MMO,” Massively Overpowered, May 1, 2017, https://massivelyop.com/2017/05/01/massively-op-interview-ashes-of-creation-on-a-new-way-to-mmo. Accessed September 17, 2025.
Royce, Bree. “Ashes of Creation’s Steven Sharif on his business history, $30M funding goal, and PvP.” Massively Overpowered. May 4, 2017. https://massivelyop.com/2017/05/04/ashes-of-creations-steven-sharif-on-his-business-history-30m-funding-goal-and-pvp/. Accessed September 17, 2025.
Sharif, Steven. “3/07/19 Discord QnA.” The Ashes Post, March 7, 2019. “Q: How does funding for game development normally work? A: Most software development …” https://ashespost.com/3-07-19-discord-qna/. Accessed September 17, 2025.
Steven_AoC. Comment on “I don’t get the hype for Ashes of Creation.” Reddit, r/MMORPG, May 20, 2021. https://www.reddit.com/r/MMORPG/comments/ngo2pi/comment/gyt3gat/. Accessed September 17, 2025.
California Secretary of State. Business Search: Intrepid Studios, Inc. (Entity No. 3788290). BizFile Online. Filed May 20, 2015. https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business. Accessed September 17, 2025.
Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. Ya-Ya Legacy Trust v. Intrepid Studios, Inc. Case No. 37-2024-00028199-CU-WM-CTL. Verified Petition for Writ of Mandate to Compel Inspection of Books, Records, and Documents Pursuant to California Corporations Code § 1603. Filed 2024. https://odyroa.sdcourt.ca.gov/Cases. Accessed September 17, 2025.