Haden Blackman, the studio head of 2K Games-owned Hangar 13, has announced that he is leaving the company. Blackman has been at Mafia developer Hangar 13 since the studio’s inception in 2014, prior to which he was at LucasArts. 2K Games says he is leaving “to pursue his passion at a new endeavour”, though further details haven’t been provided.
“We are grateful for Haden’s leadership in establishing Hangar 13, building and uniting teams in Novato, Brighton and Czech, and releasing multiple studio-defining Mafia games and collections,” the publisher said in its announcement (via GamesIndustry). “What Haden helped build will continue to carry forward and grow for years to come. We support all of our employees pursuing their passions, and we wish nothing but the best for him in what’s next.”
Hangar 13 had been at work on a new AAA open world IP since 2017, which in June last year was reported to be a multiplayer sci-fi superhero game described as “Cthulhu meets Saints Row”, codenamed Volt.
Later in the year in November, it was reported that the game had been cancelled due to prolonged development troubles that involved multiple reboots and technical issues, with 2K ultimately deciding that the investment of time and resources into the project could no longer be justified. It’s currently unknown what project Hangar 13 moved on to in the aftermath.