The renowned publisher has secured Ben Brinkman from Respawn Entertainment to oversee the studio crew at their internal studio, which is currently crafting the anticipated over-the-shoulder roguelike extraction-shooter known as Project Ethos.
Management Shift Comes After Mixed Feedback
Brinkman takes on the leadership position at 31st Union following the exit of previous head the ex-Sledgehammer Games executive, who was removed from his post due to the game's disappointing initial reveal last fall.
Recently, 2K president a key figure notified staff about this decision through an official communication, which emphasized that playtesting had shown the need for a clearer game identity.
Ismailer stated that the team is now refining the project with a refreshed focus, aiming to satisfy gamer demands.
Trend of Key Recruitment
The news mirrors a comparable action taken by the publisher in the summer, when they hired Rod Fergusson from Blizzard to work on the beloved franchise studio Cloud Chamber.
Below is the entire content from Ismailer's memo:
Dear Team—
I know you all just wrapped up your town hall - I trust you’re as thrilled as I am with the good news. Previously I shared you all a note, I mentioned the following: “I believe in this group. You all are some of the most dedicated and innovative designers we have had the chance to partner with - and we’re looking forward for that relationship to persist.”
Through your commitment and flexibility, particularly over the past twelve months, you consistently demonstrate that.
The community feedback from last autumn’s Project ETHOS testing phase was revealing. It validated the promise of a roguelike shooter but indicated we still had work to do. It highlighted the necessity for a clearer vision.
It’s been inspiring to see how far you’ve come. You took the feedback to heart and overhauled the title with a revitalized direction - one that’s poised to deliver on its ambition to our audience.
Our confidence in this project strengthens every day. To boost the outstanding development you’ve made, It is a pleasure to announce the new hire as the latest Lead of the team. Following some time of conversations, he starts with us on next week.
His leadership and background in the competitive gaming genre is vast, having spent the past decade and a half creating and managing some of the most popular franchises in gaming, for example Call of Duty: Black Ops, and more recently, the battle royale hit.
Let’s together in greeting Ben in the coming days. We are all eager to keep witnessing the development of the game in the months to ahead.
The President
Experience of the Incoming Leader
Brinkman currently serves in the position of executive producer and production lead at Respawn Entertainment for their flagship title. He previously worked at Treyarch and Activision in diverse development positions on the Call of Duty games, and, earlier in his career, had assignments at 2K and Electronic Arts.
Game Information and Vision
The upcoming game was unveiled in last year in conjunction with a public demo. Initially, 31st Union presented the title as a "no-cost, third-person perspective roguelike hero shooter and an thrilling step forward on the genre."
"Create your ideal gameplay session—or face defeat—in this engaging over-the-shoulder adventure! Build your hero in live gameplay to suit your personal playstyle," the description explains. "Face the competition with new abilities, risks, and tests that change every session. Do you withdraw carefully with your collected items? Or take a risk, put it on the line, and hope your squad can secure victory? The decision is yours."
The game lacks an announced release date or supported systems, but fans can anticipate more updates as production continues.
