Riot co-founder Marc Merrill has responded to rumors that Riot Games once explored buying Ashes of Creation developer Intrepid Studios. In a post on X, Merrill said Riot looked at making an investment in Intrepid or acquiring the studio outright a few years ago, but decided not to move forward with the discussions.
He added that Intrepid shared Riot’s goal of making the next great MMO, but that combining efforts did not make sense for Riot.
Merill made this clarification after Intrepid chief Steven Sharif made a lengthy statement on r/ashesofcreation regarding perceived attempts of character assassination, deliberate misinformation, and a defamation campaign.
One of the topics the game designer touched on was the supposed offer Riot Games made to purchase the studio, and the valuation was between $250 and $500 million.
Sharif claims he was advised against it, but per Merrill’s clarification, it was Riot Games who pulled the plug on the acquisition.
Regarding the Ashes of Creation / Riot rumors (shoutout /r/mmorpg), we looked at making an investment or even acquiring Intrepid a few years ago, but Riot decided not to move forward with discussions. The team there shared our goal of making the next great MMO — something we’re more committed to than ever — but combining efforts ultimately didn’t make sense for us.
It’s hard to tell if the fate of the studio would be different had Riot acquired it, but currently, Intrepid Studios and their MMO Ashes of Creation are facing a total collapse. The studio was permanently shut down, all 123 members of the team were laid off, and Sharif himself was recently accused ot wasting company funds on his own lavish lifestyle.
Sharif himself states that he stepped away when the board started making decisions he could not ethically or morally support.
Riot is still trying to build its own MMO as well. Initially, Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street was at the helm of the League of Legends-themed MMO. However, after his departure due to personal reasons, Riot reset the direction of its MMO project because the earlier version was not different enough from games already available on the market, and Merrill stated that the team would be going dark for a long time.
With this statement, Riot’s side of the story is also on the record, but it’s unclear whether Sharif will dispute Merrill’s claims or whether the story will develop at all.
