Project ETHOS studio 31st Union faces layoffs as leadership says changes are needed

Project ETHOS has hit a difficult development moment. 31st Union, the 2K-owned studio behind the skill-based PvP roguelike project, has laid off staff. Studio head Ben Brinkman said changes were needed so the team can work more quickly and nimbly, and that the studio had made the difficult decision to scale back in order to better align with where the game is in development. That wording matters because Project ETHOS has already struggled with identity from the outside. When it was revealed in 2024, players were not entirely sure whether it was a hero shooter, a roguelike, an extraction-style PvP experiment or some hybrid of all three. Brinkman now refers to it as a skill-based PvP roguelike experience, which may suggest the studio is sharpening the pitch. Unfortunately, that clarity appears to come with layoffs. For players, the project remains uncertain. For developers, it is another reminder of the industry’s harshest pattern: ambitious online games are expensive, hard to explain, and vulnerable when early reaction is mixed. The human cost comes before any marketing reset.