A Mafia prequel is reportedly in development

A new Mafia game is currently in development, it’s been claimed.

Kotaku reports that developer Hangar 13‘s UK studio in Brighton is leading development on a prequel set before the events of the Mafia trilogy.

According to the report, the game’s codename is Nero and will be developed in Unreal Engine 5, as opposed to the Mafia 3 engine used for the Mafia Trilogy remasters in 2020.

Kotaku’s report comes right after as Hangar 13’s internal announcement that its studio head Haden Blackman is leaving the developer and its parent company 2K.

Blackman is stepping down in order “to pursue his passion at a new endeavour,” according to an announcement initially shared internally to staff at the studio (via GamesIndustry.biz).

He will be replaced by Nick Baynes, the head of Hangar 13’s Brighton studio.

It was claimed in November that 2K had cancelled a new title from Hangar 13. Codenamed Volt, the project had reportedly been in development in various forms since 2017.

An earlier leak described Volt as an “open-world sci-fi title with supernatural elements” and “Cthulhu meets Saints Row”.

But people said to be familiar with 2K’s decision told Bloomberg that work on the unannounced project had ceased.

Further reading

The head of Mafia 3 studio Hangar 13 is leaving 2K

LucasArts veteran Haden Blackman is stepping down "to pursue his passion at a new endeavour"

The article’s author, Jason Schreier, claimed at the time that Volt was a new IP and rumours of Hangar 13 making a Mafia 4 “were always false, aside from their early attempts in 2016-2017”.

However, if Kotaku’s article is accurate, development of the new Mafia game is at a very early stage, meaning Schreier’s comments were still likely accurate when they were made.