A judge places Ashes of Creation's assets under neutral custody
A federal judge ordered Intrepid Studios' intellectual property placed with a neutral third party while the lawsuit continues. The parties had until August 25 to agree on who takes the role, or the court picks one.
A federal judge ordered Intrepid Studios' assets handed over to a neutral third party while the legal fight over Ashes of Creation plays out. In practice, neither the board nor TFE Games Holdings can move the game's code on their own until the court says otherwise.
The ruling came from the Southern District of California, with Judge Linda Lopez presiding. Whoever gets the job has to marshal, preserve and safeguard Intrepid's intellectual property and related assets, watch for any future foreclosure attempt, and report back to the court on whether a proposed sale should go through.
The parties had until August 25 to agree on who fills it: an attorney, a special master, a receiver or a magistrate judge. Failing that, the court appoints someone. According to Steven Sharif, the technical assets had to be turned over to the custodian within 72 hours of the hearing.
Sharif also put out a warning to investors and publishers: almost everything Intrepid is shopping around sits under court-ordered custody, with narrow exceptions such as the domain and certain social accounts. His suit names Robert Dawson, Ryan Ogden, Aaron Bartels, Theresa Fette, Jason Caramanis and TFE Games Holdings LLC.
The case traces back to the restraining order Sharif won in March, after what he says was the board firing the studio's staff without legally required pay, followed by his own resignation on January 19. None of this touches development: there is no return date and no fresh word on the servers.