2K has reaffirmed its support for 3rd-person action roguelike shooter Project Ethos, and has appointed the former executive producer for Apex Legends as the new studio head of developer 31st Union.

This news was shared with employees today in a town hall followed by an internal memo, the latter of which was shared with IGN by 2K. The memo, written by 2K president David Ismailer, states that Ben Brinkman will take over as studio head of 31st Union beginning Monday, October 20. Brinkman will oversee Project Ethos development as the game is “reimagined” “with a renewed vision” after the game’s 2024 playtests revealed a need for “a more distinct identity.”

Here’s an excerpt from the memo:

The community feedback from last fall’s Project ETHOS playtest was enlightening. It affirmed the promise of a roguelike shooter but told us we still had work to do. It uncovered the need for a more distinct identity.

It’s been inspiring to see how far you’ve come. You took the feedback to heart and reimagined Project ETHOS with a renewed vision – one that’s poised to deliver on its promise to our players

Our confidence in Project ETHOS grows every day. To further the incredible progress you’ve made, I’m excited to welcome Ben Brinkman as the new Studio Head of 31st Union. After several months of conversations, Ben officially joins us on Monday, October 20.

Brinkman joins 31st Union directly from EA, where he had previously been working as executive producer on Apex Legends since 2020, following six years at Treyarch on Call of Duty. IGN has reached out to EA for comment on what this means for Apex Legends, and who will be taking over Brinkman’s former role.

Project Ethos was first announced in October of last year as a free-to-play, third-person, hero extraction shooter with some roguelike elements. It’s being developed by 31st Union, a studio founded in 2019 by ex-Sledgehammer Games co-founder Michael Condrey and originally referred to as 2K Silicon Valley. We previewed Project Ethos at the time, and liked it fine, but said it “fails at being a new experience that players will crave over and over again.” Other outlets shared similar feedback, that the game was fun enough but didn’t do anything significant to stand out in a crowded genre.

31st Union has been quiet on the Project Ethos front since then, but in February this year, Kotaku reported that Condrey was fired by 2K Games due to the lukewarm reception of the game. At the time, 2K reassured employees it would continue to support the project.

This news indicates that 2K is indeed making good on its promise to continue to support Project Ethos, even amidst ongoing concerns that the audience for online, multiplayer shooters – especially extraction shooters – is worn out. But it may be a while before we get another update given the wording of the email.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Dovetail Games, perhaps best known as the developer and publisher of the Train Sim World series of video games, announced a brand-new title at IGN Fan Fest 2025: Fall Edition– and it’s unlike anything they’ve released before.

Metro Rivals: New York is “an innovative and genre-defying subway simcade game” set to release in early 2026.

In the game, “players step into a near-future New York City where the subway system has been carved into 10 fiercely contested districts.” In addition to its single-player campaign, Metro Rivals: New York includes a PvP mode where up to four players can compete online or with friends. Drivers can “race to stop at designated platforms,” and are “scored on their ability to handle their train with precision and control under pressure.”

Metro Rivals: New York’s first trailer was revealed as part of IGN Fan Fest and, as you can see in the player at the top of the page, gives a brief glimpse into train racing mechanics.

According to Dovetail, the game’s narrative sees “players begin their journey with nothing but a hand-me-down train and a determination to rise. To succeed, they must take on a variety of missions, earn cash fares, upgrade their train’s performance, build a loyal following, and earn respect.”

While there will be in-game purchases, Dovetail says those are “entirely cosmetic” and that the game is not “pay-to-win.” Instead, players “can express themselves with extensive options to upgrade their train’s performance, apply unique skins and liveries in signature colours, and personalise their character’s appearance to stand out on the tracks.”

And if neither the single player campaign nor the PvP mode is your cup of tea, you also have the option to partake in a “more relaxed experience” where “players can set their own paths, hop into their train, and enjoy the sights of the city.”

Publisher Reef Entertainment and developer Bitmap Bureau have published a new Terminator 2D: No Fate trailer, showing off how next month’s arcade-inspired action game reimagines the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

It’s a two-and-a-half-minute look at a modern take on retro gaming that debuted as part of IGN Fall Fan Fest 2025. Director James Cameron’s original ‘90s sequel has been picked apart by movie fans for decades, and Terminator 2D: No Fate aims to let players experience fan-favorite moments – and new scenarios, too.

As Bitmap Bureau lead programmer and designer Mike Tucker explains in today’s trailer, a Terminator 2D: No Fate playthrough begins simply enough, with players tasked with revisiting the events of the Terminator 2 movie through the lens of a 2D, retro side-scroller. That No Fate title then takes over on repeat playthroughs, as fans are given the option to make choices that alter the story they’ve known for years.

Secret levels and remixed weapon loadouts are just the tip of the iceberg for Terminator 2D: No Fate. The example we see in today’s IGN Fall Fan Fest 2025 trailer revisits Sarah Connor’s trek through Cyberdyne HQ. Players will first fight through waves of SWAT officers by using little more than Sarah’s pistol and a few well-timed punches. A follow-up playthrough, coupled with different choices, however, could see her use an assault rifle to go in guns blazing while Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 tears through enemies with his minigun.

“Adding in this pivotal decision the player must make gave us a way of staying accurate to the movie,” Tucker explained, “while also opening up the possibility of new scenarios and gameplay ideas that could make repeat playthroughs both rewarding and entertaining, allowing fans of the franchise to experience battles they have only ever dreamed of before.”

Following a recent delay, Terminator 2D: No Fate has a release date of November 26, 2025, for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X | S. For more while we wait to see the multiple new endings it can give longtime Terminator 2 enjoyers, you can read up on why Bitmap tracked down one of the film’s original actors. You can also check out why we think the game needed to be made in 2025.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Love them or, more likely, hate them, Minecraft’s Creepers are now an iconic part of Mojang’s beloved sandbox game. But the explosive creatures probably wouldn’t be included today, the developer has said, if it were to design them from scratch now.

Speaking in a new developer video discussing game balance and fairness, chief creative officer Jens Bergensten said that Mojang now followed a strong principle when adding any new item, biome or enemy to Minecraft that could cause players grief. In a nutshell, if anything causes the player to suffer, it should be because players brought it on themselves.

“We want to avoid treating players in a way that feels unfair,” Bergensten said. “So we have this guiding principle that bad things [can] happen, but they’re technically the players’ fault. What we mean by that is either the player caused it, or the player had a chance to prevent it.”

That means enemies have to feel fair — so players can choose to take them on if they want or have a decent chance of mitigating the danger if not. Situations that negatively impact a player should also never feel too random.

Bergensten listed various examples of things that have been added in the past that haven’t felt as fair as intended — such as Iron Golems protecting villages by attacking Creepers (and getting said villages blown up), or Endermen randomly stealing blocks that could have some pivotal signifiance (such as a painstakingly-built Redstone circuits).

This doesn’t mean that Mojang won’t add in tougher challenges, though the developer said it was now careful to make difficult content feel like something players were opting into — such as when actively making the choice to enter The End and take on the game’s climactic Ender Dragon.