Riot Games Allegedly Tried to Buy Ashes of Creation in 2022-2023; Intrepid CEO Steven Sharif Files Counter-Lawsuit

[UPDATE - March 6, 2026] A federal judge has granted Steven Sharif a temporary restraining order against TFE, preventing them from selling or accessing Intrepid's trade secrets, including the Ashes of Creation source code.

[ORIGINAL STORY] The story behind the MMORPG Ashes of Creation, its development team (Intrepid Studios), its founder and CEO Steven Sharif, and its major investors (Robert Dawson, Jason Caramanis) continues to get messier.

As you might remember, Jason Caramanis publicly accused Steven Sharif of fraud, embezzlement, and other illegal acts, and mentioned that Sharif would be the target of several lawsuits, including one already filed by TFE Games Holdings against Steven Sharif and his husband, John Moore, on February 9, 2026, in the Nevada District Court, Clark County. However, a few days ago, Sharif himself filed a counter-lawsuit in the United States District Court, Southern District of California, against Robert Dawson and others (not against Caramanis, though), including the aforementioned TFE Games Holdings LLC, a Delaware-based LLC created and controlled by Dawson that the filing describes as having been created for the sole purpose of receiving, exploiting, and monetizing Intrepid's trade secrets and intellectual property.

One of the most explosive revelations from the new legal documents is that between late 2022 and early 2023, a major game development company offered hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire Ashes of Creation and the studio behind it. However, Dawson allegedly urged Sharif to reject the deal in favor of continuing development under his financing, which eventually led to the talks with the acquiring company ending. This company is never named in the filing, but in a new video interview with NefasQS, who was the first one to break the veil of mystery on this whole controversy, Caramanis reveals that "the only company that I know they had dialogues with that they communicated with was Riot."

Needless to say, it's a surprising turn of events (albeit not officially confirmed) that the public didn't know about before. Riot's backing could have certainly helped Ashes of Creation, although they have been working on their own League of Legends MMO for several years without anything to show for it. It was rebooted in March 2024, and we still haven't learned anything concrete about it.

Anyway, the counter-lawsuit frames this as the turning point in their relationship: Sharif alleges that, seeing the company's real potential for extremely high returns, Dawson then began a campaign to seize control of the company, but notably, he did so "without consideration for the quality of the game and the typical development timeline of MMORPGs."

The allegations made by Sharif against Dawson only get harsher from here on. According to Sharif, from early 2023 through May 2024, Dawson repeatedly threatened to withhold payroll and health insurance financing just before payroll deadlines, to shut the company down through litigation, and to cause Sharif financial ruin and physical harm, unless Sharif signed documents granting him progressively greater equity and control. The filing lists the following examples:

• Dawson demanded a warrant granting him 10% of the company for $10
• He demanded zero-cost non-dilutable equity options in his convertible debt notes
• He required Sharif to involve him in all discussions with company counsel, despite having no right to that access (at least according to Sharif)
• He falsely represented that he was an agent of the Company to retain Company counsel

Steven Sharif claimed to have suffered from severe health issues due to these undue threats and pressure, including a hypertensive emergency, acute kidney failure, hospitalization, and vision loss from blood pressure complications, including macular edema.

As a result of debt-to-equity conversions under the May 2024 Settlement Agreement, Dawson became the majority shareholder, holding 4,008.67 shares of Class A, B, and C Common Stock, representing roughly 58% of all shares in Intrepid Studios. Under that same agreement, Sharif expressly retained full creative control of the Company, even as Dawson gained financial and governance control.

At a subsequent Board meeting that took place on September 4, 2024, Dawson was appointed Chairman of the Board, and Ryan Ogden was appointed Chief Financial Officer. Dawson then directed Ogden to open new Intrepid bank accounts at Pathway Bank, which the lawsuit frames as a bank over which Dawson exercises de facto or de jure control. From this point, Sharif was effectively stripped of all financial authority and ceased to have any access to active company bank accounts. By August 2025, Dawson added Theresa Fette and Aaron Bartels (both of whom are also among the lawsuit's defendants) to the board. From that point until Sharif's formal resignation dated January 19, 2026, the full board consisted of Dawson, Ogden, Fette, Bartels, and Sharif, who claimed that Ogden, Fette, and Bartels were acting at Dawson's behest rather than as independent directors.

Even the early access launch of Ashes of Creation, clearly rushed by most gamers' judgment, was forced by the board against Sharif's and other senior leadership's advice, at least according to Sharif's own reconstruction of the events. The filing also states that prior to the board's interference, Ashes of Creation had achieved an unusually strong Day 30 player retention rate of approximately 76%.

Critically, it is alleged that Ryan Ogden specifically assured CommerceWest Bank that Steam revenue from the Early Access launch would cover the outstanding loan obligations. As a reminder, Caramanis had alleged that Sharif was notified by Valve that a Steam payout was incoming, and then Sharif deliberately allowed or directed those funds to flow to the CommerceWest Bank loan, which Caramanis described as Sharif essentially using company money to cover a personal debt, since the $6 million loan was personally guaranteed by his husband, John Moore.

The two accounts actually agree on the assurance given to CommerceWest Bank, but the funds themselves appear to still be frozen. Prior to the foreclosure, Ogden had specifically directed Valve to divert the Steam revenue owed to Intrepid into a new Pathway Bank account opened for TFE, but Valve refused to comply. On February 3, 2026, Valve terminated Intrepid's Steam partnership entirely, citing multiple conflicting requests from alleged account administrators trying to change Intrepid's banking information, demands from multiple potential creditors for Intrepid's revenues, and a large volume of player refund requests. The filing states that before refunds, Intrepid would have been entitled to approximately $5 million from Steam.

Sharif's counter-lawsuit lists eight specific violations of the law:

1. Defend Trade Secrets Act (federal): Misappropriation of Intrepid's IP and trade secrets
2. California Uniform Trade Secrets Act: The same, albeit under state law
3. California Commercial Code violations: The Article 9 foreclosure was procedurally unlawful, commercially unreasonable, and conducted without required notice to senior creditors
4. Breach of Fiduciary Duty: Board defendants failed their duties of loyalty, care, candor, and independence to the company and shareholders
5. Aiding and Abetting Breach of Fiduciary Duty: This one specifically targets TFE for knowingly facilitating the board's breaches
6. Corporate Waste: The board's actions were so reckless and devoid of legitimate business purpose that they constituted a waste of corporate assets
7. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress: A direct personal claim by Sharif, based on the deliberate campaign to destroy his reputation and safety
8. Civil Conspiracy: All defendants knowingly conspired to misappropriate IP and trade secrets and to scapegoat Sharif publicly

The filing requests a variety of remedies, including:

• An injunction to prevent the defendants from accessing, using, or selling the trade secrets related to Ashes of Creation
• The annulment of the wrongful foreclosure
• Compensation for consequential and punitive damages
• The disgorgement of profits
• The removal of the board of directors
• The establishment of a constructive trust
• The payment of legal fees
• Permanent injunctive relief against future misconduct

By the way, Steven Sharif himself appeared in the YouTube chat of the linked NefasQS video to share this message:

My goal is maximum accountability. I am glad to see Jason commenting and sharing as much as he is, I think you are doing a great job with that @NefasQS, so thank you for that. It obviously would not make much sense for me to fight a battle in the court of public opinion, when the truth will come out obviously in court. Federal court is not like state court; there is a higher burden of factual proof required. I would not sign my name to that document if I was not certain of the truthfulness.

To say that the situation is intricate would be an understatement. We'll keep tracking the development of this legal battle; stay tuned.

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