Mafia: The Old Country

Mafia: The Old Country is a crime drama developed by Hangar 13 and published by 2K. It serves as a prequel to the Mafia series, moving the setting from twentieth-century American cities to Sicily during the early 1900s. The game explores the origins of organized crime in the region that later became closely associated with the word “mafia,” while retaining the series’ focus on loyalty, violence, family, and social power. The central character is Enzo Favara, a young Sicilian who grows up in poverty and works under brutal conditions at a sulfur mine. Seeking a different life, he joins the Torrisi crime family and becomes involved in the organization’s struggle for influence. His rise places him alongside Cosa Nostra figures and forces him to navigate competing loyalties within a criminal society built on personal allegiance and coercion. The story is framed as a tightly focused narrative rather than the larger open-world structure associated with Mafia III. Hangar 13 described the project as a return to the series’ roots, emphasizing a linear, story-driven experience. Its setting allows the developers to portray rural Sicilian landscapes, old estates, villages, mines, and roads at a time when automobiles and modern firearms were beginning to change everyday life. Horses and early vehicles are part of the travel system, while combat includes knives, period pistols, rifles, and other weapons appropriate to the era. The game is built with Unreal Engine 5, a change from the technology used for earlier Mafia releases. That engine supports the project’s detailed environments and cinematic presentation, including dense countryside, historic architecture, and weather effects. Hangar 13 also consulted historical material to ground the fictional Torrisi family and its conflicts in the social conditions of turn-of-the-century Sicily, without presenting the story as a literal account of one documented criminal organization. Mafia: The Old Country was announced at Gamescom 2024 during the Opening Night Live presentation. 2K later confirmed an August 8, 2025 release date for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Unlike many current large-scale action games, it was positioned as a premium, single-player title with no requirement for an online connection. Its narrative perspective makes it distinct within the franchise: rather than depicting an outsider entering an American crime network, it follows Enzo’s formation inside the Sicilian world that inspired the later Mafia mythos.