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The renowned publisher has welcomed Ben Brinkman from Respawn Entertainment to lead the development team at 31st Union, which is currently working on the upcoming over-the-shoulder roguelike extraction-shooter known as Project Ethos.

Management Change Comes After Lukewarm Response

The new appointee steps into the leadership position at the development studio following the dismissal of previous head Michael Condrey, who was removed from his post due to the game's lackluster early showing last fall.

Recently, the company's top executive David Ismailer notified staff about this decision through an internal memo, which highlighted that playtesting had indicated the necessity for a distinct direction.

Ismailer stated that the developers is now reimagining Project Ethos with a revised approach, aiming to satisfy community desires.

A Pattern of Strategic Recruitment

The news echoes a similar move taken by the publisher in the summer, when they hired Rod Fergusson from the Diablo team to assist with the beloved franchise studio Cloud Chamber.

Below is the full text from Ismailer's communication:

Dear Team—

I know you all just wrapped up your town hall - I hope you’re as thrilled as I am with the recent updates. Previously I shared you all a message, I mentioned the following: “I am confident in this crew. You all are some of the most driven and talented creators we have had the opportunity to partner with - and we’re eager for that relationship to endure.”

Through your commitment and adaptability, particularly over the last year, you continue to prove that.

The player input from last fall’s Project ETHOS demo was revealing. It validated the appeal of a roguelike shooter but told us we still had improvements to make. It uncovered the requirement for a sharper identity.

It has been motivating to see how far you’ve come. You accepted the criticism to consideration and revamped Project ETHOS with a renewed vision - one that’s poised to fulfill its ambition to our fans.

The belief in Project ETHOS increases every day. To boost the incredible advancement you’ve made, I am thrilled to welcome Ben Brinkman as the new Studio Head of 31st Union. Following some time of discussions, Ben starts with us on the specified date.

Ben’s management and experience in the PVP shooter genre is vast, having dedicated the last 15 years producing and overseeing some of the most well-known series in the industry, for example Call of Duty: Black Ops, and more recently, Apex Legends.

Please join me in greeting Ben in the coming days. We are all excited to keep witnessing the evolution of the game in the months to come.

David

Experience of the Incoming Leader

Brinkman currently holds the position of senior developer and head of production at Respawn Entertainment for Apex Legends. Brinkman previously worked at Treyarch and Activision in multiple development positions on the Call of Duty games, and, prior to that, had periods at other industry leaders.

Game Information 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 "free-to-play, third-person perspective action-packed experience and an thrilling 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 match your preferred approach," the description explains. "Take on the rivals with new abilities, risks, and challenges that shift every round. Do you safely extract with your valuable rewards? Alternatively take a risk, risk it all, and hope your team can secure victory? The choice is yours."

Project Ethos lacks an announced debut schedule or consoles, but players can look forward to further news as creation continues.