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The renowned publisher has welcomed Ben Brinkman from the creators of Apex Legends to direct the development team at 31st Union, which is currently crafting the forthcoming third-person roguelike extraction-shooter known as Project Ethos.

Leadership Transition Comes After Lukewarm Response

The new appointee takes on the role of studio head at the development studio following the departure of former leader the ex-Sledgehammer Games executive, who was removed from his post due to Project Ethos' underwhelming unveiling last fall.

Recently, the company's top executive David Ismailer notified employees about this decision through an official communication, which stressed that early feedback sessions had shown the need for a clearer direction.

The president stated that the developers is now overhauling Project Ethos with a renewed approach, aiming to satisfy player expectations.

A Pattern of Key Acquisitions

This announcement follows a similar action taken by 2K Games in the summer, when they recruited an industry veteran from the Diablo team to work on the BioShock development group.

Below is the full text from the president's memo:

Team—

I know you all just finished your gathering - I hope you’re as thrilled as I am with the good news. Previously I shared you all a note, I stated the following: “I am confident in this group. You all are some of the most motivated and talented developers we have had the chance to partner with - and we’re excited for that partnership to persist.”

Given your hard work and flexibility, particularly over the last year, you continue to prove that.

The gamer responses from last fall’s the game demo was enlightening. It confirmed the promise of a roguelike shooter but made clear we still had work to do. It highlighted the requirement for a clearer vision.

The progress is encouraging to see how far you’ve advanced. You accepted the criticism to consideration and overhauled Project ETHOS with a renewed direction - one that’s poised to achieve its ambition to our audience.

Our confidence in this project increases every day. To advance the incredible progress you’ve made, I am thrilled to introduce Ben Brinkman as the incoming Lead of 31st Union. After a period of discussions, Ben starts with us on next week.

Ben’s guidance and expertise in the competitive gaming genre is considerable, having devoted the recent years producing and leading some of the most well-known series in the industry, for example the acclaimed shooter, and more recently, Apex Legends.

I invite you all in greeting him soon. We are all eager to persist seeing the progress of Project ETHOS in the weeks to ahead.

David

Experience of the Incoming Leader

Brinkman presently holds the role of executive producer and production lead at Respawn Entertainment for their flagship title. He earlier was employed at Treyarch and Activision in various development positions on the Call of Duty games, and, before that, had periods at other industry leaders.

Game Details and Concept

Project Ethos was revealed in October 2024 alongside a community playtest. Then, the developers presented the game as a "free-to-play, third-person perspective roguelike hero shooter and an innovative advancement on the category."

"Create your ideal gameplay session—or face defeat—in this engaging over-the-shoulder adventure! Build your hero in live gameplay to fit your unique tactics," the official summary states. "Take on the competition with unique powers, stakes, and challenges that shift every round. Do you safely extract with your collected items? Or go big, put it on the line, and trust your squad can achieve the highest spot? The option is in your hands."

Project Ethos lacks an official debut schedule or supported systems, but players can look forward to more updates as production progresses.