Call of Duty veteran Michael Condrey has reportedly been fired as the head of 2K Games studio 31st Union after its debut project, free-to-play hero shooter Project Ethos, recieved a muted reponse on its reveal toward the end of last year.
Condrey, who co-founded Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer Games, was confirmed to be leading 2K’s 31st Union in 2019. A year later, Condrey teased the studio was working on an “ambitious and inspired new IP” – but it wasn’t until last October that the game, now known as Project Ethos, was finally revealed.
Project Ethos was officially described as a free-to-play “roguelike hero shooter”, and featured a colourful art style reminiscent of Blizzard’s Overwatch. Unfortunately, its unveiling came just months after consumer apathy led to the rapid demise of PlayStation’s Concord – and it appears there wasn’t much enthusiasm for Project Ethos either.
In a new report by Kotaku, sources claim Project Ethos – which is said to have faced a “challenging and rocky development cycle” under Condrey – was revealed to “little fanfare or apparent player interest”. That seemingly sparked a chain of events leading to Condrey’s reported firing as 31st Union’s studio head earlier this week.