A new report suggests that Hanger 13 is hanging its hat on the Mafia franchise for the future of the studio. At an official level, Hanger 13 has been really quiet regarding its future games since it released Mafia 3 in 2016. Given the success of that game, many assumed that the developer would begin working on a fourth game, but it pivoted to a sci-fi game that was codenamed Volt. The game was claimed to be an incredibly expensive endeavor and likely would’ve been a major IP for Hanger 13, but it was supposedly canceled in 2021 after all kinds of development hurdles. Now, it looks like the developer is doubling down on Mafia.
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Bloomberg is reporting that there was a wave of lay-offs at Hanger 13, though no number was disclosed. 2K Games is aiming to help the displaced employees find new homes at other 2K studios or somewhere else outside of the company, but Hanger 13 will remain operational. The developer is reportedly working on a tennis game and Mafia 4, a game which Bloomberg claims struggled to get approval for years. Given the turmoil the studio has experienced over the last few years, it’s been reported that Hanger 13 president Nick Baynes has told employees that he’s working to get Mafia 5 approved during the development of Mafia 4 so they can easily transition into the next game and not be left in limbo. As of right now, Hanger 13 has yet to confirm its next game and there are very few reputable rumors regarding Mafia 4.
One of the handful of rumors suggests that Mafia 4 will be more linear than previous games, opting to address the criticism that Mafia 3 had a bloated open-world. It will also reportedly be set in the late 19th century or early 20th century and follow Don Salieri, one of the crime bosses in the original Mafia game. It’s unclear if Mafia 5 would directly follow Mafia 4′s narrative or if it would be something else, like the heavily rumored Las Vegas entry that Hanger 13 was claimed to have been planning years ago.
What do you want to see from the Mafia franchise? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
