Leaker Shares Good News For Mafia Fans

16.04.2024 - 17:04 / gamerant.com / Jeff Grubb / News For / Dominik Bo

A Mafia series announcement is on the horizon, a well-known leaker has claimed. The purported bit of upcoming news is plausibly related to the fourth mainline Mafia game.

That project has been in the works for a while now, with its existence being officially confirmed in late 2022, in an interview with Hangar 13 General Manager Roman Hladík published as part of the series' 20th anniversary celebrations. On that occasion, the executive said that the fourth Mafia game was in development, albeit still «a few years away» from hitting the market.

The project may now be approaching the finish line, with Take-Two Interactive possibly looking to unveil it soon. That's suggested by a recent report from leaker Kurakasis, who took to Twitter on April 16 to claim that the publisher has started preparing for some kind of Mafia series announcement. With Hangar 13's game being the only project based on this IP that's confirmed to be in the works right now, it is the likeliest candidate for the subject of the purported announcement.

Kurakasis said they are uncertain of the announcement's timing, but speculated it could arrive within a month's time. Elaborating on that point, the self-dubbed «video game researcher» said that they saw similar signs of the latest Judas trailer about three to four weeks before it was shared. For clarity, Judas is developed by Ghost Story Games, which, like Hangar 13, is a Take-Two Interactive subsidiary.

The new Judas trailer debuted at the latest PlayStation State of Play, continuing Take-Two's tradition of participating in Sony's major game showcases. That track record implies that whatever this Mafia-related announcement may be, it could end up debuting at another such event. According to a recent report from industry insider Jeff Grubb, Sony may be planning a PlayStation Showcase for May 2024. The Silent Hill 2 remake is rumored to make an appearance during the broadcast, with this latest turn of events suggesting Mafia 4 may be joining it.

While it wasn't confirmed until 2022, the next mainline entry in the franchise has possibly been in development since around 2020, when Hangar 13 wrapped up its work on Mafia: Definitive Edition. And while the fourth Mafia entry now appears to be getting close to a reveal, it almost certainly won't be the next Hangar 13 game to hit the market. That title is bound to go to TopSpin 2K25, which is scheduled to be released for PC and consoles on April 26.