Last year, it was confirmed that Mafia 4 was in development, with the news dropping more than six years after the launch of Mafia 3, the most recent title in the series (if you don’t count the Definitive Editions). Now, thanks to a job listing on LinkedIn, it seems that the status of Mafia 4 has been updated and it now sits in pre-production.
This is the part of the development cycle where the key story points, setting, and characters are fleshed out, and the environment begins to be detailed in concept art and intricate designs. It was revealed a few months ago that Mafia 4 could be a prequel, set before the existing trilogy, and it’ll be built in Unreal 5, with the developer, Hanger 13, moving away from the engine that was used to build Mafia 3 and the Definitive Edition(s) of the older titles.
Mafia 4 Is Reportedly Set in 1920s Sicily
There wasn’t much information offered up by the job post on LinkedIn, but it did stress that applicants would be working on an ‘unannounced multi-platform game currently in pre-production using Unreal Engine 5.’
So, that fits the bill for what we already ‘know’ about Mafia 4.
Of course, as the game is suspected to be in pre-production, details – including the setting – can certainly change. At the moment, the key suggestion is that the game will be a prequel set in Sicily – the birthplace of the mafia – and it’ll be set years before the first Mafia game, which saw players assume control of Tommy Angelo in the 1930s.
However, each Mafia game has been set in a fresh location – Mafia was in ‘Lost Heaven, Illinois’, Mafia 2 was in ‘Empire Bay’, and Mafia 3 was set in ‘New Bordeaux’. With every new release, real-world locations have been replicated, and there’s plenty of ground left to cover if Mafia 4 won’t be a prequel set in Sicily.
It has been a tough two-year period for Hanger 13, the developer behind the Mafia franchise. Last year, there were layoffs and some high-ranking members of staff departed the company. Not only that but several projects were cancelled internally, including one that Take-Two, Hanger 13’s parent company, pulled the plug on. This project was a game titled Volt, which reportedly was a Destiny 2-styled game, and according to reports, the firm had sunk $53 million into the game’s development.
There are some concerns that Hanger 13 is taking too long with Mafia 4, given that the game was ‘announced’ more than a year ago and it still sits in pre-production. However, an all-new game built using an engine that’s not even a year old will take a little work to perfect, that’s for sure.
For more Insider Gaming news, check out our coverage of the leaked achievements list for the Resident Evil 4 Remake.
