Steven founded Intrepid Studios in 2015 and for years claimed to be the sole owner with no board and no investors. State filings confirm he was CEO, Director, and Secretary. His words: “I am the sole share owner in the company. I don’t have to answer to a board.” The 2017 Kickstarter raised $3.27M from nearly a 20k backers with an explicit promise: “In the case that Ashes of Creation does NOT launch, we promise to refund all backers in full.” Sharif personally guaranteed refunds from his own wealth in a PC Gamer interview.
Despite claiming full funding, lawsuits piled up. Sada Systems sued for $850k in unpaid cloud fees. Aetna filed a debt collection suit. Streamline Media sued over unpaid battle royale assets. California EDD filed ~$50k in payroll tax liens starting in 2020. The Ya-Ya Legacy Trust, a 9.7% shareholder, sued in 2024 after being denied access to financial books and bank statements. Sharif’s other entity, Trek Holdings LLC, was suspended by the state.
In November 2025, Sharif transferred his home to his spouse — asset protection before creditors arrived. On December 11, Intrepid rushed an unfinished Alpha 2 onto Steam Early Access, technically “launching” the game and voiding the Kickstarter refund promise. On January 16, 2026, Karen Boreyko — co-founder of Vemma, an MLM shut down by the FTC as a pyramid scheme, connected to Sharif through the XanGo/Vemma world — filed a UCC lien securing her claim on Intrepid’s assets. Layoffs began. On January 31, Sharif resigned via Discord blaming “the board” for unethical decisions. WARN Act notices followed. The studio couldn’t make payroll.
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