It doesn’t matter now — Envato has been destroyed, and so has our work. Personally, I have to start over. I’m now forced to build my own store and join other marketplaces.
Instead of shutting down the forum, they should have started a serious discussion with us, the authors. Envato used to be pure freedom and creativity; now it’s pure dictatorship and fear.
I honestly didn’t expect them to close the forum. I’m not sure why, but I believe one of the reasons might be that Turhos has been complaining about things — and perhaps that doesn’t look good for business.
Who knows what other madness will come next?
It would be so easy to get this place back on track. I could do it for free in six months, and I certainly wouldn’t shut down Elements. But we don’t matter anymore… Well, guys, you really messed up. I invested 15 years of my life in Envato — do you even realize that? Now I have to start from scratch, and I will. But man, I feel completely betrayed. The fact that you have full control over this, while I have zero influence, makes it absolutely disgusting.
Where’s the CEO? Step up and face us. Have the courage to talk with the people who built this place!!!
With this attitude, Envato will probably be sold for $2 million in a year or two. Maybe that would be for the best — who knows. But here’s a personal message to the CEO from me: I believe I’ve earned the right to share my opinion, considering the time and effort I’ve invested here.
Now, because of this approach, thousands of authors are being forced to reinvent themselves — when things could have been truly great. Especially now, with AI on the rise, human creativity and craftsmanship will be more valuable than ever.
Elements doesn’t work — the idea was pure stupidity to sell an infinite nr. of items for 29$, and I was right. My prediction now is that Elements, as well as the marketplaces, will completely collapse within the next 6–12 months. Heck, I haven’t had a single sale in 8 days — that’s never happened in my 15 years here. It’s practically dead.
As for the authors — you’re acting like cowards. Ninety-nine percent of you never step up or even try to fight this madness. Most of you have just taken the “easy way out.”
To to Mr. Hichame Assi with respect.
“After 15 years of dedication, creativity, and loyalty, I never imagined I’d see Envato brought to this point — a shell of what it once was. The downfall was not inevitable; it was the result of leadership that ignored its community, treated art as a commodity, and prioritized short-term decisions over long-term vision.
You’ve turned a thriving ecosystem of passionate creators into a place of fear, frustration, and silence. The forum closure was not just the end of a discussion board — it was the symbolic end of the relationship between Envato and its authors.
If you can’t see the value in the very people who built this platform, then perhaps you’re not the right person to lead it. Without change, Envato will continue on this trajectory until there’s nothing left to save. And when that day comes, it won’t be because the market shifted — it will be because leadership failed to understand what Envato truly was: a home for creativity, freedom, and trust.
The choice is still yours — rebuild the bridge with your authors or watch as the platform collapses entirely. But know this: history will remember whether you listened or turned your back.”
Tibi - FWD
