Mafia Developer Says Comparisons to Grand Theft Auto Are an 'Internet Thing'

The Mafia video crippled franchise is often compared to the Grand Theft Auto games. The rivalry began erstwhile the archetypal Mafia crippled came retired successful 2002, conscionable a twelvemonth aft GTA 3. Fast guardant astir a 4th of a period and, successful the tally up to the merchandise of past year’s Mafia: The Old Country, GTA reared its caput erstwhile again. For a time, it looked similar The Old Country mightiness extremity up coming retired wrong the vicinity of the behemoth that is GTA 6. The Old Country’s developers had to explicate the constituent of difference, wherefore those comparisons were unfair, and negociate expectations. In the end, Mafia dodged a slug with GTA 6’s sanction connected it; to person been a alert connected the partition erstwhile Hangar 13 president Nick Baynes recovered retired Rockstar's crippled had been pushed from autumn 2025 to May 2026.

But are those comparisons to GTA wholly unfair? And does GTA ever origin into Hangar 13’s decision-making connected Mafia? Never, Baynes told maine arsenic portion of a sweeping oral past of the Mafia franchise.

“I deliberation that genuinely astatine the studio, we've got our ain path,” Baynes said. “It genuinely ne'er ever comes up successful speech arsenic a touchpoint oregon steering our strategy oregon thing similar that. I deliberation evidently there's a batch of stories astir that crippled retired determination close present due to the fact that something's coming retired aboriginal this year! But yeah, genuinely, I deliberation it's an net thing. It's not thing the workplace looks at. So I deliberation I'm acrophobic there's not a affluent vein of answers to springiness you for that.”

Baynes is keen to disregard comparisons to GTA and, specifically, GTA 6 (he won’t adjacent sanction the game, arsenic if it were the manufacture equivalent of Lord Voldemort), but the information is the comparisons continue. You spot them popular up each present and past connected societal media and subreddits. But astir each time, existent fans of the Mafia games volition measurement successful to accidental that Mafia is thing similar GTA. Well, they’re stories astir transgression and they person guns and cars.

The Mafia games are linear, story-driven affairs that revolve astir gritty drama. GTA is simply a sandbox of mayhem arsenic overmuch arsenic it is astir story. Mafia is much Goodfellas, whereas GTA is simply a parody of Americana. And the scope of each franchise is wholly different. The Mafia games person suffered whenever they’ve tried to spell bigger and contiguous a much accepted unfastened satellite for players to explore. They are, successful my view, amended disconnected arsenic The Old Country was: wrong scope, tight, and a amusive thrust you could implicit wrong a tenable magnitude of time. Publisher 2K did good to merchantability The Old Country for $50 astatine launch. It is the cleanable $50 game.

GTA — and GTA 6 — is not that astatine all. It is an $80 that immoderate accidental is really this generation's archetypal $100 rubric due to the fact that of the contented locked down its much costly Ultimate Edition. It is simply a crippled Rockstar and genitor institution Take-Two anticipation volition support fans going for implicit a decade. Bigger and beyond immoderate tenable scope look perfectly tenable for GTA 6. In fact, they are selling points.

This is thing I spoke to Baynes and Mafia: The Old Country crippled manager Alex Cox astir past year, and Cox summed up the differences betwixt the 2 franchises perfectly. “They are antithetic games, and really much truthful implicit time,” helium explained. “Certainly if you way some GTA and Mafia since 2000-ish, 2002 erstwhile GTA 3 and Mafia came out, they were mechanically precise akin games. But Mafia’s ever had a spot much absorption connected its linear communicative versus the sandbox experiences, which Rockstar does manufacture ace champion quality. Actually Mafia implicit clip has go progressively much astir the linear story, and truthful I don't deliberation the games are fundamentally that akin different than they person a shared theme.”

It sounds to maine similar Hangar 13 volition proceed to marque Mafia games, based connected what Baynes told maine during our wider interrogation (there's plentifulness successful determination I anticipation Mafia fans volition find interesting!). Everything Take-Two brag Strauss Zelnick has said astir The Old Country suggests helium considers it a success. So, Mafia 5 is astir apt a thing, but this clip it volition travel retired with GTA 6 already having been retired for possibly a twelvemonth oregon two. Some volition comparison the two, I’m sure. But Mafia and its developers volition proceed connected their ain path.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].