Fortunately, it seems that it was too early to bury the Hangar 13 development studio because, according to the news, besides the two Mafia games, their Czech team will also work on the Top Spin reboot…
Hangar 13 is going through difficult and strange times at the same time. Amidst numerous departures and further layoffs, the studio is reportedly planning two Mafia games and a Top Spin revival. We’ve recently heard about a Mafia prequel in development, but according to a new report from Bloomberg (partially confirmed by Kotaku), a new Top Spin game is in the works, and studio president Nick Baynes is trying to get 2K to greenlight a Mafia prequel-sequel now (we kid you not).
Why is Hangar 13 eyeing two Mafia games?
Baynes, who replaced Hangar 13 founder Hayden Blackman, recently held a meeting with staff to inform them of the layoffs. Bloomberg revealed at the conference that he is trying to get the sequel to “Nero” (the code name for the new Mafia game) greenlit while Nero is still in development to avoid a scenario where employees are laid off after a project is completed or dropped.
Bloomberg reports that a tennis game codenamed “Hammer” is also in development at Hangar 13.
However, Kotaku and insider Nick “Nick_Shpeshal” Baker also dropped the name Top Spin. In fact, Baker was the first to reveal in a video earlier this month that a new Top Spin game was in development, but the Mafia leak overshadowed his claim.
2K released the following statement to Kotaku and Bloomberg:
“2K is fully committed to the future of Hangar 13 as the studio navigates a challenging but ultimately promising transition period. As part of our ongoing evaluations to ensure our resources are aligned with our goals, we have made some changes that have resulted in a reduction of positions and parting ways with some colleagues.”
“These decisions are always difficult.”
“We are doing all we can to work with the impacted employees to find them new roles on other projects and teams at 2K, and are providing full support to those who cannot be redeployed, connecting them with industry networks and resources to find new opportunities outside of 2K.”
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