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The renowned publisher has secured Ben Brinkman from the creators of Apex Legends to direct the studio crew at 31st Union, which is currently developing the upcoming third-person roguelike extraction-shooter known as this innovative game.

Management Transition Follows Lukewarm Response

The new appointee steps into the leadership position at 31st Union following the departure of previous head the ex-Sledgehammer Games executive, who was removed from his post due to the game's underwhelming initial reveal last fall.

Recently, 2K president David Ismailer updated staff about this organizational change through an official communication, which stressed that playtesting had revealed the requirement for a clearer vision.

Ismailer stated that the team is now overhauling Project Ethos with a revised approach, aiming to better meet player expectations.

A Pattern of Key Hires

This announcement follows a comparable action taken by 2K Games in the summer, when they brought on Rod Fergusson from the Diablo team to work on the beloved franchise studio Cloud Chamber.

Below is the entire text from Ismailer's communication:

Hello Everyone—

I know you all just wrapped up your meeting - I trust you’re as thrilled as I am with the recent updates. Last time I shared you all a message, I expressed the following: “I am confident in this group. You all are some of the most driven and talented creators we have had the pleasure to work with - and we’re looking forward for that partnership to continue.”

With your dedication and flexibility, particularly over the past twelve months, you continue to prove that.

The community feedback from last autumn’s Project ETHOS playtest was revealing. It affirmed the appeal of a action-packed game but indicated we still had refinements needed. It uncovered the requirement for a clearer identity.

It’s been inspiring to see how far you’ve advanced. You took the feedback to mind and reimagined the title with a revitalized vision - one that’s positioned to fulfill its potential to our fans.

Our confidence in this project strengthens every day. To advance the outstanding progress you’ve made, I am thrilled to announce the new hire as the incoming Studio Head of 31st Union. After several months of talks, he officially joins us on Monday, October 20.

His guidance and expertise in the PVP shooter genre is considerable, having devoted the past decade and a half creating and leading some of the most well-known titles in gaming, for example Call of Duty: Black Ops, and more recently, Apex Legends.

Let’s together in welcoming Ben in the coming days. We are all eager to persist witnessing the progress of the game in the time to come.

David

Experience of the Incoming Leader

Brinkman presently holds the position of executive producer and head of production at Respawn Entertainment for Apex Legends. He previously worked at Treyarch and Activision in diverse production roles on the iconic franchise series, and, before that, had periods at 2K and Electronic Arts.

Game Details and Vision

The upcoming game was announced in last year together with a public demo. At the time, the developers portrayed the title as a "no-cost, third-person perspective action-packed experience and an innovative evolution on the style."

"Create your ideal gameplay session—or face defeat—in this engaging over-the-shoulder adventure! Build your hero in real-time to fit your unique tactics," the game's pitch explains. "Face the rivals with unique powers, risks, and obstacles that evolve every match. Will you safely extract with your hard-earned loot? Alternatively take a risk, gamble everything, and hope your group can earn top ranking? The choice is yours."

Project Ethos does not have an official debut schedule or supported systems, but players can look forward to additional details as development advances.