“Since joining 31st Union, it’s become clear that changes need to be made to our team in order to realize our goals. Our success is dependent on our ability to work more quickly and nimbly. To do that, we’ve made the difficult decision to scale back our team to better align with where we are in development, which unfortunately means parting ways with some valued colleagues today.” As the site pointed out, he described the title as a “skill-based PVP roguelike experience” rather than a roguelike hero shooter, and you have to wonder if that means a significant shift in direction.

You might be forgiven if you’re wondering what we’re talking about. It’s been a while since there’s been news (remember that it was revealed back in October 2024). Following the radio silence, the need to “better align with where we are in development” has led the studio to let go of a portion of its team. What that entails for a title that seems rather confused about what it aims to be remains unclear, but Brinkman expressed measured optimism in his carefully-worded statement.

It isn’t the first time we’ve talked about the studio letting go of staff members, though, and we can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness for those who surely worked hard to bring the title to its current state, which the studio has “never been confident in.” Let’s just hope that this one turns out well to honor their contribution, and that it doesn’t hit any more snags along the way.

After all, the year has already seen some high-profile PvP failures, including the ill-fated Highguard, which lasted all of two months before it and developer Wildlight Entertainment shut down.

However, a spokesperson for the publishing label told the site that Condrey has moved to an advisor role. “We are grateful to Michael Condrey for the dedication, passion and work ethic it took to build an incredible team and shape the vision of 31st Union.

“Michael will be transitioning his role in the short term to focus on advising on the future of Project ETHOS. We remain very committed to the forward path for Project ETHOS and the people and culture of the 31st Union studio.”

The title has reportedly been in development for “several years” and faced “a challenging and rocky development cycle” under Condrey. It also allegedly has (including 31st Union’s sister studio in Spain) working on it.

Project ETHOS is in development for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It’s a free-to-play shooter with heroes and modes like Trials, a PvEvP skirmish where players obtain cores for Augments in future runs. Leveling up in Trials provides new abilities for heroes, and you can collect loot to modify their playstyles. The other mode is Gauntlet, a round-robin Team Deathmatch-style tournament.

There’s currently no release window for Project ETHOS, though one has to wonder about its long-term future (even with 2K’s commitment). Live-service titles haven’t exactly been booming – for every Helldivers 2 and Marvel Rivals, there have been multiple cancelled projects from Sony and failures like Concord.

The title offers two modes: Trials and Gauntlet. The former consists of matches against AI enemies and other players, where three-player teams collect and extract cores. These can then be used to receive Augments for future Trials runs. When your hero levels up during a Trial, they can unlock new abilities and passives.

Gaunlet is a round-robin-style tournament where multiple teams compete in Team Deathmatch. Though it’s more straightforward than Trials, it offers more conventional PvP.

A community playtest is available on PC from October 17th to 20th in the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. Head here for the timings. Those who register and don’t get access will be earmarked for future playtests.