2K consolidates Prague office, Mafia 3's future unclear

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In August 2012 , we first heard rumors that Mafia 3 was being developed at 2K Czech for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Today, we have mixed news about the studio and the future of the Mafia games. A 2K representative has confirmed to us that the company is consolidating 2K Czech's office in Prague, with some developers offered new positions in 2K's Brno office (also in the Czech Republic), some at 2K's headquarters in Novato, California, and some laid off. We're also hearing unconfirmed reports that 2K is restarting development on Mafia 3 at 2K San Francisco.

"This transition will both strengthen the integration of the 2K Czech team with our award winning development teams, and better align cross-functional business practices,” 2K said in a statement.

Talking to Superannuation , an anonymous source claimed that Rod Fergusson, 2K San Francisco's Studio Head, is restarting development on Mafia 3 , abandoning 2K Czech's progress on the game.

Fergusson, formerly of Epic games, helped Irrational Games finish development on Bioshock Infinite before opening the 2K San Francisco studio. This has led some to speculate that he'll help do the same for Mafia 3, seeing as how Mafia 2 was in development for roughly seven years.

While 2K did confirm that some of the developers at 2K Czech have been transferred to California, and several LinkedIn profiles of 2K developers in the San Francisco area indicate that they are working on an unannounced open world game, the company did not confirm where Mafia 3 is being developed, if at all.

In October 2013, 2K's Marin studio was also hit with significant layoffs .

Our review of Mafia 2 was fairly positive, finding that it was a great tribute to the mafia movie genre, but not enough of a game.

Emanuel Maiberg
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