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The renowned publisher has appointed a seasoned producer from Respawn Entertainment to oversee the studio crew at 31st Union, which is currently working on the upcoming third-person roguelike extraction-shooter known as Project Ethos.

Leadership Change Comes After Lukewarm Reception

Brinkman takes on the leadership position at 31st Union following the departure of previous head Michael Condrey, who was removed from his post due to the game's underwhelming early showing last autumn.

Recently, 2K president David Ismailer updated employees about this strategic move through an internal memo, which highlighted that playtesting had revealed the requirement for a more defined game identity.

The president expressed that the developers is now refining Project Ethos with a renewed approach, aiming to better meet gamer demands.

Trend of Key Recruitment

This announcement follows a comparable action taken by 2K Games in the summer, when they brought on an industry veteran from Blizzard to assist with the BioShock development group.

Here is the entire message from the president's announcement:

Team—

I understand you all just finished your town hall - I trust you’re as enthusiastic as I am with the good news. Previously I shared you all a update, I stated the following: “I believe in this team. You all are some of the most motivated and creative creators we have had the opportunity to partner with - and we’re excited for that collaboration to persist.”

Given your hard work and adaptability, particularly over the past twelve months, you continue to prove that.

The community feedback from last fall’s Project ETHOS playtest was informative. It affirmed the potential of a action-packed game but indicated we still had improvements to make. It revealed the need for a clearer identity.

It has been motivating to see how far you’ve advanced. You accepted the input to mind and overhauled the title with a revitalized vision - one that’s ready to deliver on its ambition to our fans.

The trust in this project grows every day. To further the remarkable progress you’ve made, It is a pleasure to welcome Ben Brinkman as the latest Director of the team. After some time of talks, Ben officially joins us on next week.

His leadership and experience in the competitive gaming field is considerable, having spent the past decade and a half producing and managing some of the most well-known titles in the industry, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops, and lately, Apex Legends.

Let’s together in greeting him soon. We are all excited to keep witnessing the progress of the game in the weeks to ahead.

David

Experience of the Incoming Head

Brinkman currently serves in the role of senior developer and head of production at Respawn Entertainment for their flagship title. Brinkman previously was employed at Treyarch and Activision in diverse production roles on the Call of Duty series, and, earlier in his career, had periods at other industry leaders.

Game Information and Vision

The upcoming game was unveiled in October 2024 in conjunction with a public demo. At the time, the developers portrayed the game as a "no-cost, third-person perspective action-packed experience and an innovative advancement on the genre."

"Build your perfect run—or die trying—in this 3rd-person action shooter! Build your hero in real-time to suit your personal playstyle," the game's pitch reads. "Take on the opponents with new abilities, stakes, and challenges that shift every round. Do you safely extract with your collected items? Or take a risk, put it on the line, and hope your squad can earn top ranking? The decision is yours."

The game lacks an announced debut schedule or platforms, but fans can expect further news as production progresses.