Mafia is back online. Two years after its last post, longer still since the last piece of Mafia III DLC came and went, the open-world crime ’em up’s Twitter account has poked the hornet’s nest by tweeting out one word earlier today. Are they teasing a sequel? Lining up for a remaster? Or is this just a quiet love of familial bonds from an online brand? Right now, it’s anyone’s guess.
God, I wish I could leave Twitter for all of two minutes, never mind two years. Good for you, Mafia. Their fleeting return to Jack Dorsey’s hellsite was marked by a single word, tweeted earlier this afternoon.
Family.
— Mafia Game (@mafiagame) May 10, 2020
Granted, “Family” could mean literally anything where mobsters are concerned. All three games have strong ties to family, whether it’s Vito Scaletta’s brotherly relationship with Joe, or Lincoln Clay’s relatives getting gunned down in a pub. Maybe it’s a nice Mother’s Day reminder for American followers. Honestly, it’s too early to tell.
The way I see it, though, there are a few possibilities. PCGamesN reports rumblings of Mafia II and III “Definitive Editions”, as per listings on Taiwan’s game rating board. But it’s also been almost four years since Mafia III landed. There’s every possibility Hanger 13 are gearing up for a fourth mobster romp.
Or, almost every possibility. Last we heard from Hanger 13, the devs had suffered massive layoffs, stifling hopes for a follow-up. Rumour at the time was they’d just discarded a musical action game at the time of the layoffs.
Fair play, I’d be well up for Mafia: Bugsy Malone.