The self-made millionaire Steven Sharif has been working on the MMORPG “Ashes of Creation”, the spiritual successor to “Everquest Next”, for years. In an interview, he says his MMORPG has what it takes to become one of the largest and most successful MMOs. There will be no “mini-servers” like in New World; he wants large battles.
Who is behind the MMORPG?
- Many crowdfunding games are the dream of one person behind them. Just as the legendary developer Chris Roberts stands behind “Star Citizen” and the MMORPG veteran Marc Jacobs stands behind Camelot Unchained, the self-made millionaire Steven Sharif is behind Ashes of Creation.
- Sharif has already acquired a considerable fortune at a young age. He built the foundation of his wealth during his time at XanGo, which sold fruit juices and vitamins. At 24, he entered the real estate business: by 28, he was set for life. With the money, he wants to fulfill his dream of his own MMORPG.
- Sharif says he has been a gamer for 25 years and has played MMORPGs many times. Nothing compares to the feeling of playing with thousands of players from around the world. Therefore, in his MMORPG “Ashes of Creation”, players are meant to take a crucial role and determine where the story goes.
Ashes of Creation already has “millions of pre-registered players”
This is what Sharif says about the success of his game: According to Sharif, it is already clear that Ashes of Creation is being well received by its target audience. In an interview with MMORPG.com, he states that the game already has “millions of pre-registered users” and that there is still a long way to go until release.
From an investment perspective, the numbers already suggest that the initial investment in the MMORPG will pay off and bear fruit.
Sharif also guarantees that they will completely see the development through:
We are capable of carrying through the development of the project to the end, both financially and in terms of capability. […] We are also looking forward to the launch purely from the reward factor. The launch of the game is something we are excited about. Because I truly believe that Ashes of Creation, based on the numbers, can become one of the largest and most successful MMORPGs.
Steven Sharif
Servers are supposed to be 5 times larger than in New World
What does he say about the size? Sharif emphasizes that Ashes of Creation is meant to be a truly large MMORPG. In the test phase in August, there were already sieges with more than 350 people, which was a milestone. It sounds like a reference to New World, when he says:
We are even expanding the limit on the number of people who can participate because the idea of Ashes of Creation is not to have a server with 1000 or 2000 people; our servers should offer 10,000 concurrent users per server.
Steven Sharif
What is the most important feature? What distinguishes Ashes of Creation time and again is the “Node” system, which is supposed to make the world dynamic. Depending on player behavior, the game world changes because nodes change and develop based on player actions.
“From a player’s perspective, nodes are the key to unlocking content in the world […] We have over 103 different planned node points at the start of the world, and if you are lucky enough to be there at the start of Ashes of Creation, it’s an undiscovered land.
It’s a free field lying before the eyes of the players to help shape the direction the world takes.”
Steven Sharif
For us at MeinMMO, Ashes of Creation has been one of the most promising MMORPGs for years. Recently, it has been quiet around the MMORPG; a lot of time apparently went into the port to the Unreal Engine 5, but 2022 could hold a lot for us. The developers certainly lack confidence:
