Some newly emerged job listings suggest thatMafia 4might feature multiplayer elements, in addition to hinting at a few other gameplay details about Hangar 13’s upcoming game. The 2K subsidiaryconfirmed that a newMafiagame is in developmentback in August, but revealed virtually nothing else about the project ever since.
WhileMafia 3is already pushing seven nowadays, its sequel isn’t expected to hit the market in the immediate future. Not least because its developer fell on some difficult times in recent years, withHangar 13 being hit with substantial layoffsthat decimated its staff in mid-2022. The studio’s previous confirmation thatMafia 4is in development also came with a provision that the game is still “years away” from releasing.
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Be that as it may, some newly emerged job listings indicate that Hangar 13 already seems to have a clear picture of whatMafia 4is supposed to be. How the fandom will react to that vision remains to be seen, especially seeing how one of these recently unearthed postings calls for a candidate with experience in making multiplayer or live-service games. For context, the first three installments in theMafiafranchise were all single-player games, though the later two were also monetized with post-launch DLC.
The new influx of Hangar 13 job listings also effectively confirms thatMafia 4will feature stealth gameplay, as it calls for candidates who’d help design “engaging stealth and combat gameplay loops.” This is a far less surprising revelation, seeing how stealth elements have been part of the series since the 2002 original. Yet stealth has also long been one of the weakest, clunkiest parts of the franchise.Mafia 3’sstealth sections were particularly egregious, with enemy AI often being happy to follow Lincoln’s whistles over ridiculous distances, all the while providing little in the way of an actual challenge.
The recently emerged job listings also seem to suggest thatMafia 4will use Unreal Engine 5, as they specifically call for applicants experienced with one of the last two versions of Epic Games' ubiquitous engine. This requirement dovetails with a mid-2022rumor that claimedMafia 4will be powered by Unreal Engine 5.
While another Hangar 13 job listing from Marchindicated thatMafia 4might still be in pre-production, these newly discovered postings don’t offer any new hints of the project’s development status. That notwithstanding, between the studio’s previous statements and the fact that it’s currently trying to fill some fairly critical, senior positions following massive layoffs, it stands to reason thatMafia 4won’t be seeing the light of day anytime soon.
