The classic Mafia series looks set to return, with an announcement potentially happening as soon as next month.
The news comes way of Kurakasis on X. While not a notorious leaker of information, Kurakasis has so far proven reliable when he has volunteered insider info. For example, he was recently right about both Marvel’s new Captain America/Black Panther game, and the name of the upcoming Indiana Jones.
According to Kurakasis, he’s heard that Take-Two is getting ready for “an announcement regarding the Mafia series.” He goes on to say that it’s hard to nail down the timeframe, but “with Judas I’ve seen them gearing up for the new trailer for about 3-4 weeks before it dropped, so…”
I can tell you that a few days ago, Take-Two began preparations for an announcement regarding the Mafia series
It’s hard for me to determine the timeframe, but with Judas I’ve seen them gearing up for the new trailer about 3-4 weeks before it dropped, so…
Soon™️ 🙂
— Kurakasis (@Kurakasis) April 16, 2024
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A new Mafia game has been rumoured for a while now, with various leaks providing glimpses into what we might be able to expect. In fact, according to GamingBible, Take-Two is not just working on Mafia 4 but also Mafia 5 as well, indicating that the company is fully investing in the franchise.
A job listing on LinkedIn was also previously spotted which people assumed to be linked to the Mafia series.
Prior leaks hinted that the new Mafia game might be a prequel following a young Don Salieri in Sicily in the early 1920s/1930s.
The Mafia series has had a long and rather mixed history, managing to sell a combined 17 million copies throughout three games. The last we saw of the Mafia games was when all three games were released in their Definitive Edition versions, with all three games being collected together as the Mafia Trilogy. According to Take-Two, the package sold 2m copies, though we have no idea how many copies of each game were sold individually.
While 2m copies aren’t huge, it’s not too bad for a niche franchise. And I do think the Mafia games have a lot of potential to draw in a much bigger audience, although to do that Take-Two could be tempted to go down the route of turning it into a Grand Theft Auto clone. Mafia 3 went down the route with its emphasis on its open world and wasn’t well received compared to the linear, more cinematic first two games.