Ashes of Creation — December 2025 Development Update

A Year in Review & What Comes Next

This December marked Intrepid Studios’ final development update of 2025, closing out one of the most important years in Ashes of Creation’s development. With Steam Early Access now live, a massive influx of new players, and Alpha Two Phase III running at scale, the team reflected on lessons learned, current priorities, and what 2026 will focus on.

---

Steam Early Access: One Week In

The Steam launch significantly expanded the testing pool:

• 200,000+ players joined via Steam in the first week
• 25k–30k peak concurrent players
• Nearly 500,000 wishlists
• Review score trending upward to ~72–73% positive among players with meaningful playtime

While launch week brought predictable MMO issues (login errors, queues, server instability), the team deployed a 100+ fix patch within days, addressing the most disruptive problems.

To thank players for their patience, all Steam-linked accounts as of December 19, 2025 will receive the “504 Cloak”, a cosmetic item with in-game lore tied to the launch issues.

---

Alpha Reality: Bugs, Iteration, and Expectations

Intrepid emphasized a core truth: this is still an alpha.

• Bugs will test patience
• Systems are incomplete
• Iteration is constant and intentional

The QA team reviewed nearly 1,000 issues in the last month alone, with heavy focus on:

• Exploits and duplication bugs (especially economy-related)
• Server desync and stability
• Progression blockers

Players are strongly encouraged to use the in-game /bug tool and provide clear reproduction steps. High-quality exploit reports that lead to confirmed fixes can earn a Gilded Beetle mount as a reward.

---

What Landed Well in 2025

Looking back over the year, several milestones stood out:

• Combat reached a solid foundation after multiple redesigns
• Rogue and Summoner archetypes were successfully introduced
• Fishing launched as a complete system (with planned iteration)
• Mercantile systems (crates, caravans, ships, mules) began to interlock
• The world of Vera became meaningfully immersive, with players forming settlement-based identities rather than static factions

The team highlighted that player-driven conflict, cooperation, and politics are already emerging organically — a core goal of Ashes’ design philosophy.

---

Community & Open Development

One recurring theme was the importance of building the MMO with its players:

• Veteran testers actively help newcomers
• Player feedback directly influences system iteration
• The studio remains openly communicative through Discord, forums, livestreams, and Steam updates

This open development approach is not without criticism, but Intrepid believes it is essential for building a long-term, player-driven MMO.

---

Holiday Schedule

• Studio break: December 20 → January 5
• Customer Support returns: January 3
• A small live-ops team will monitor critical issues
• Expect slower iteration on non-critical fixes during this window

---

Looking Ahead to 2026

While no full roadmap was shown, the team outlined clear priorities:

Major Goals

• Progress toward Beta 1, meaning:
  • Core gameplay systems feature-complete
  • Majority of launch-intended content in place
• Heavy focus on bug fixing and stability
• Expanding POIs, hunting zones, and PvE content
• Deepening settlement, economy, guild, and siege loops
• Continued iteration on PvP systems and archetype balance
• More readable, scalable systems across the board

The team also hinted that a new style of roadmap may be shared early in 2026.

---

Final Thoughts

2025 was a turning point for Ashes of Creation:

• The game is now playable at scale
• Core systems are proving their potential
• The community is actively shaping development

The road ahead is still long, but Intrepid Studios is confident that the foundation is finally strong enough to build the MMO they’ve promised — one shaped not just by developers, but by the players living in Vera every day.