Hangar 13

Hangar 13 is a 2K internal development studio focused on AAA games for console and PC. Established by 2K Games in 2014, the studio develops narrative-led action-adventure experiences, open-world games, cinematic presentation, and sports simulation projects.

The team is closely associated with the Mafia series, beginning with Mafia III in 2016 and continuing through Mafia: Definitive Edition, Mafia: Trilogy, and Mafia: The Old Country. Its work also includes TopSpin 2K25, extending the studio’s development remit into tennis simulation.

Development capabilities

Hangar 13 provides full-cycle game development across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Its capabilities span:

• Creative direction, narrative scripting, and performance capture
• Open-world architecture, environment art, world design, and level design
• Cinematic presentation, technical animation, motion matching, and rigging
• Real-time graphics engineering, shader development, and rendering optimization
• Motion-capture and 3D character-scanning operations

The studio’s production pipeline combines proprietary tools with Unreal Engine 5 development. Its European teams work across engineering, design, narrative, art, and prototyping disciplines.

Company history

Hangar 13 launched with Mafia III, developed in collaboration with the historic Czech team behind the first two Mafia games. In 2017, 2K consolidated 2K Czech—whose lineage began as Illusion Softworks in Brno in 1997—under the Hangar 13 brand. A Brighton studio followed in 2018.

After founder Haden Blackman left in 2022, Nick Baynes became Studio Head and President. During the same period, active development at the original Novato site was phased out, with Hangar 13’s operations consolidating across its European studios. Brighton now serves as the global headquarters, alongside development teams in Brno and Prague.