Mafia 5 leaked before Mafia 4 even gets its first trailer trailer

Mafia: Definitive Edition key art — Mafia: Definitive Edition – neither sequel can be any worse than Crime Boss: Rockay City (pic: 2K)

A recent job listing points towards Mafia 5 being in the works, even though Mafia 4 still hasn’t been shown in public.

Despite never being a massive hit, the Mafia franchise has persisted for over 20 years now, with the first game getting the remake treatment in 2020, to help prove that the series is still alive and kicking.

Last year, Mafia 3 developer Hangar 13 and publisher 2K announced a new sequel was in the works; one rumoured to be set in 19th century Sicily – which would actually make it a prequel.

As if that wasn’t enough there are now signs that Hangar 13 already has plans to continue the series beyond that, with Mafia 5.

As a quick reminder, nothing has been actually shown for Mafia 4. The initial announcement was made via a simple blog post and there was no teaser trailer or even a logo.

Admittedly, studios planning sequels before getting one game out the door isn’t anything new, but it speaks to the confidence Hangar 13 and 2K have in the brand and its established fanbase.

The speculation for Mafia 5 is the result of a new job listing at Hangar 13, which advertised on LinkedIn for an executive producer.

It never mentions Mafia by name but says: ‘We are looking for a highly top-tier executive producer to own the development of a key franchise at Hangar 13.

‘This role will play a vital part in the successful delivery of a major new title, including post-launch content and future franchise planning.’

It adds that whoever fills the position will ‘lead the development of Hangar 13’s unannounced game,’ so it’s not referring to Mafia 4. Unless Hangar 13 forgot it already announced it (we almost did).

Mafia III - starting its crime spree this October — Mafia 3 – fingers crossed the Mafia 3 writing team is being kept for the sequels (pic: 2K)

Plus, Mafia is literally the only thing Hangar 13 has ever worked on, so what other franchise would it be referring to? There was chatter of it making a new Top Spin tennis game but it seems unlikely that’s what they’re referring to.

What’s more, there was a Bloomberg report last year that claimed Hangar 13’s then new president Nick Baynes was ‘aiming to green-light a sequel to Nero while it is still in development.’ Nero is believed to be the initial codename for Mafia 4.

The same report alleged that Hangar 13 had a tennis game in development too but didn’t specify if it was a Top Spin sequel.

Considering Hangar 13 reportedly cancelled two other projects and suffered ‘horrible’ lay-offs last year, all this Mafia 5 chatter is hopefully a sign that the studio is picking itself back up.

In fact, it was reported that Baynes’ push for a Mafia 5 was to avoid repeating the studio’s prior mistakes and avoid having staff displaced once development on Mafia 4 wraps up.

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