It certainly looks like Mafia 3 developer Hangar 13 is gearing up for something big. It has recently opened a new studio located in Brighton, UK. This will actually be its fourth games studio, after establishing three other offices in Novato, California, as well as Brno and Prague in the Czech Republic. The new office was previously an indie studio headed by game creator Nick Baynes.
Teams from all four Hangar 13 studios will work together to develop a major AAA console game, which has not been officially announced. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Hangar 13 Development Vice President Andy Wilson said: “As the year went on, things were going well and it became apparent we had a big opportunity, because Brighton and the South East have this vast pool of talent, with console experience, but there’s a lack of console development going on in the UK.”
Wilson cites the lack of a major AAA console development studio in the region as the reason for opening the new studio. As such, he feels that “this is an opportunity to pump a bit of oxygen back into the fire as far as console development in the UK is concerned.” Although 2K Games fully owns Hangar 13, the new studio in Brighton will be exclusively developing games as part of the latter.
Baynes predicts that the new studio will turn out to be “one of the more significant studios in the region.” It’s good news for budding games developers and young talent as Wilson said that they want to “provide opportunities for people coming out of college, who are just trying to work out that big scary problem of how to get into games.”
Mafia 3 Hangar 13 New Studio: What could the unannounced major release be?
Last month, Jason Schreier from Kotaku reported that problems at Hangar 13 caused 2K Games to funnel the developer’s resources towards developing the next installment in the Bioshock franchise. However, that project is purportedly led by a top-secret team assembled by 2K Games. Additionally, Hangar 13 is specifically teasing a major “console” release, so maybe that means an entirely new IP is in development.
