Staff were told of the job cuts in a virtual meeting, a recording of which was heard by Bloomberg. New studio president Nick Baynes called the news “horrible”, and said he does not expect further layoffs. A spokesperson for 2K Games confirmed the cuts in an emailed statement, writing that “2K is fully committed to the future of Hangar 13 as the studio navigates a challenging but ultimately promising transition period.” Three weeks ago it was reported that Hangar 13 were in early development on a new Mafia game, alongside the news that studio president Haden Blackman had departed, with Baynes his successor. Sources talking to Kotaku suggested that the new Mafia would use Unreal Engine 5. Hangar 13 have seemingly been in transition since last year, however, when a Take-Two Interactive quarterly earning report revealed that they had cancelled a third-person superhero action game on which they had spent $53 million (around £39 million) developing. This isn’t the first time the studio has undergone layoffs either, with a “large proportion” of the staff let go in February 2018 before new Hangar 13 studios were opened. The studio’s last released project was 2020’s Mafia: Definitive Edition, which remade the gangster game with modern production values.
