Gamescom may have been light on new reveals last week, but not even Johnny Tightlips could keep Mafia 3 from blowing the lid off of that joint. The sequel arrives next year, with an emphasis on brutality, race and crime. All wrapped up in a neat sandbox genre that is populated with civilians, fast cars and tons of guns.
Kind of like that other game that Take-Two published a while back, Grand Theft Auto V. The two definitely share quite a few similarities, but according to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, Mafia 3 is a “completely different experience.”
Speaking to GameSpot, Zelnick hammered home that the latest Mafia was something else. “I wouldn’t compare it to anything else out there. The reveal [last week at Gamescom] was great, but it stands alone,” Zelnick said to GameSpot.
We don’t use any other game in the same sentence as Grand Theft Auto. It is the industry’s standard-bearer. It’s not up for comparison.
Fair enough. At best, Mafia 3 shares a genre with GTA V. But beyond that, I can see the two being completely different beasts. To me, it genuinely is a different franchise, something that Zelnick also touched upon as he spoke about the Rockstar and 2K Games libraries.
“We’re blessed that we have two distinct labels at this company,” Zelnick said.
We do not have a tech-sharing environment. We’re a very congenial company, but we don’t think that’s the best way to get the best out of our development folks. It’s not the way it works around here.
Zelnick announced that Mafia 3 would release during the 2017 fiscal year for the company. In regular terms, that means sometime after April 2016 then. Alessandro spent some time with the game. And if he doesn’t shut up about it, he’ll be sleeping with the fishes, see.
Last Updated: August 11, 2015
rocketmonkie
August 11, 2015 at 19:40
Good on them, they’re not capitalising on the success of GTA V. There’s still room for development in open world sandboxes that not even GTA V covered, and I admire devs for actually wanting to be different.
Marc O Polo
August 11, 2015 at 21:11
I’m sorry to be the party pooper but as good as the games reveal trailer looks the fact that you not Italian ruins it for me… It’s like having a godfather game where you fucking Irish!
Gardos
August 12, 2015 at 11:15
But… the Irish were huge and very well established in terms of “mobs” in America :/
Marc O Polo
August 13, 2015 at 07:21
But you don’t wanna play as the Mick bastards, you wanna be the Sicilian, giving ppl cement boots and making them sleep with the fishes!
Gardos
August 13, 2015 at 09:57
I want to give people silly hats, ginger beards and an affinity for fake pots of gold. That sounds far more interesting!
CodeDisQus
August 11, 2015 at 23:19
I’m hoping that the story is at the dead center of this game!! I’m playing through Mafia 2 now and the story and the way it makes you feel like a mafioso is relly slick. That reveal trailer screamed, rollercoaster story and I really hope it delivers!