{"id":416666,"date":"2026-05-07T18:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/416666\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T18:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:36:10","slug":"project-ethos-new-game-details-art-revealed-as-layoffs-hit-2k-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/416666\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Project Ethos’ New Game Details, Art Revealed as Layoffs Hit 2K Studio"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tVideo game developer 2K<\/a>\u2018s 31st Union<\/a> studio is experiencing a round of layoffs amid development on its upcoming \u201cProject Ethos<\/a>\u201d video game project. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe unconfirmed number of cuts come as the Take-Two Interactive-owned 2K has unveiled new concept art (which readers can view below) and details for the long-gestating game.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOur studio is committed to building a bold new game with a renewed direction and vision \u2013 a skill-based PVP roguelike experience that will challenge and thrill players,\u201d 31st Union studio chief Ben Brinkman said in a memo to staff announcing the layoffs Thursday. \u201cWe\u2019ve evolved as a team this past year in what has been a defining period of creative growth. While the moves we\u2019re making haven\u2019t always been easy, they are what is required to push us forward. I believe strongly in our ability to deliver on this vision and the promise of this game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBrinkman continued: \u201cSince joining 31st Union, it\u2019s become clear that changes need to be made to our team in order to realize our goals and deliver this experience for players. Our success is dependent on our ability to work more quickly and nimbly. To do that, we\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSee the memo to staff from Brinkman in full below, which was provided to Variety by 2K.<\/p>\n

\n\t31U Team \u2013\u00a0
\u00a0
Our studio is committed to building a bold new game with a renewed direction and vision \u2013 a skill-based PVP roguelike experience that will challenge and thrill players. We\u2019ve evolved as a team this past year in what has been a defining period of creative growth. While the moves we\u2019re making haven\u2019t always been easy, they are what is required to push us forward. I believe strongly in our ability to deliver on this vision and the promise of this game.\u00a0
\u00a0
Since joining 31st Union, it\u2019s become clear that changes need to be made to our team in order to realize our goals and deliver this experience for players. Our success is dependent on our ability to work more quickly and nimbly. To do that, we\u2019ve 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. \u00a0
\u00a0
While today is going to be hard, I\u2019ve never been more confident in the future of our game, this team, and the commitment and investment Take-Two and 2K leadership continue to show.\u00a0
\u00a0
I want to give my sincere thanks to those leaving us today for their contributions to our studio and game. We\u2019re committed to supporting them through this however we can.
\u00a0
I know this will be a hard day for everyone. Please give yourself and your peers the space you need as we process and adjust to these changes.\u00a0
\u00a0
Don\u2019t hesitate to reach out to me, your manager or our HR partners if you have questions or need any support.
\u00a0
Ben<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Video game developer 2K\u2018s 31st Union studio is experiencing a round of layoffs amid development on its upcoming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[173219,214136,111,139,69,214137,145],"class_list":["post-416666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-2k","tag-31st-union","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-project-ethos","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}