Although it looks like Mafia 4 is still a “few years” away, it is now official that work has started.

Earlier this year, a rumour emerged that 2K Games’ Hangar 13 studio was working on a new Mafia game under new leadership, following the departure of long-time president and creative director Haden Blackman. Now it’s official: in an interview published on mafiagame.com to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original game, CEO Roman Hladík finally confirmed that it’s happening.

“I’m happy to confirm we’ve started work on an all-new Mafia project!” said Hladík.

“While it’s a few years away and we can’t share anything more right now, we’re really excited to keep working on this beloved franchise and to entertain our players with new stories.”

Rumoured in May, the new game will be developed in Unreal Engine 5 instead of the proprietary engine used for the previous games, and more interestingly, it will reportedly be a prequel to the existing trilogy. The series has historically bounced between games, from the early 1930s of the original game to the troubled late 1960s of the third instalment, so it’s not entirely unexpected that the studio would choose a new era for the fourth game. There’s certainly fertile ground for it: the Prohibition era is a classic period for gangster stories, but there was also some stuff that happened at the dawn of the 20th century that could serve as a basis for the game.

While Mafia 3 may not be considered the most successful episode in the series, the franchise is popular enough to deserve another incarnation.

If you’ve never played the game and want to see where it all began, 2K Games is making the original available for free download on Steam this weekend, from September 1 to 5. The updated Definitive Edition will also be available for $14/£12/€14 – 65% off the regular price – until 8 September.

Source: Mafiagame.com

In honor of #Mafia20 let's go back to where it all started 🏙

Get the original Mafia (digital) for FREE on @Steam from Sept. 1 – 5 pic.twitter.com/ZdxSFZrLwh

— 2K (@2K) August 29, 2022