Mafia 4 is Just the Beginning; Hangar 13 is Planning Mafia 5
Mafia 5 may be created much sooner than we expected. The reason is to be the care of constancy of employment for the developer's employees.
The highly anticipated sequel to the Mafia trilogy is currently in production. However, as it turns out, after many problems that have plagued Hangar 13 in recent times, the studio head would like to confirm a plan to produce the next installment before Mafia 4 is finished. This is to provide employees with a more stable future.
Last November, news broke that the project, which the studio had been working on for four years, had been cancelled. The title, which was described as a sci-fi multiplayer open-world game, was abandoned after an extremely difficult development phase. Unfortunately, this was connected with layoffs, which were to include most of the employees. The new head of the studio, Nick Baynes, is trying to ensure that this situation does not happen again.
According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier during a meeting with Take-Two Interactive, the owner of Hangar 13, Baynes tried to convince his superiors to approve a plan to start work on Mafia 5 as soon as the production of Mafia 4, currently known as Project Nero, is completed.
The new boss, who replaced Haden Blackman earlier this month, was also expected to make an extremely optimistic promise to his subordinates:
"All of you who are currently here are still making Hangar 13 and will continue to do so in the future."
Bloomberg Agency confirms that the studio is not only working on a sequel to Mafia, but also a tennis game called Project Hammer (most likely the next installment of Top Spin).
Take-Two has not yet given a clear answer on the future of Mafia. However, the company assures that it will take care of the future of Hangar 13's employees, while not wanting to admit how many people were left with nothing after the cancellation of the previous project (earlier reports speak of 50 people in just one branch of the studio).
"We are doing everything we can to work with the affected employees to find them new roles in other projects, and we are providing full support to those we are unable to rehire by helping them find new opportunities outside the company," Take-Two's spokesperson declared.
What does this mean for players? Probably more Mafia. However, only the release of the next part will show whether there will be something to look forward to in the future.
