‘No Mafia Announcement At Summer Game Fest’, Claims Leaker

The beloved Mafia series won’t mark a presence at the 2024 Summer Game Fest, claims Kurakasis.

“I have received new info on 2K’s upcoming reveal, and it doesn’t look good for Mafia fans,” Kurakasis wrote on Twitter. “I’m trying to verify it; news later today.”

I reached out to them regarding the same. Since we were all eyeing on a Mafia 4 announcement, was 2K planning a Mafia 2 Remake instead? “Right now, it looks like there is no Mafia announcement at Summer Game Fest, unfortunately,” Kurakasis answered.

Back in April, Kurakasis claimed that Take-Two had begun “preparations for an announcement regarding the Mafia series”. They mentioned, however, that they are not sure if it will be “an announcement of Mafia 4, the next-gen update for Mafia Trilogy, or something else.”

During my chat, I asked them if 2K is planning for some other announcement apart from Mafia. “I don’t want to say yet because I’m trying hard to verify my info but it’s not [a] sports game,” they replied.

On May 17, Summer Game Fest confirmed that 2K is planning “to reveal the next iteration in one of 2K’s biggest and most beloved franchises” on Monday, June 7. Kurakasis later shared that the referred announcement could be Borderlands 4, according to sources.

They further speculate that 2K could tease Borderlands 4 prior to Summer Game Fest only to dive deeper during the event.

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Hangar 13, the developers behind Mafia III and Mafia: Definitive Edition, that retains talent from 2K Czech, the developers of Mafia and Mafia 2 since the merger, posted a job listing back in March 2023. The company was hiring a “Tools Engineer” for “an announced multi-platform game currently in pre-production using Unreal Engine 5.” Since the listing, the only game Hangar 13 has released is TopSkin 2K25 which runs on a proprietary game engine, as confirmed by game director Remi Ercolani.

In August 2022, Hangar 13 General Manager Roman Hladík confirmed that Hangar 13 is working on an “all-new Mafia project”. Hladík mentioned how they’re excited to entertain players “with new stories”.

So, when are we getting a glimpse at the next Mafia game? Only time will tell.

But the question remains, how credible is Kurakasis?

As per their track record, Kurakasis is a credible insider, known for accurately predicting Marvel Rivals and Marvel 1943 before they were officially revealed. They even leaked the title ‘Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’ in January before any official announcement. Last month, they leaked the upcoming LEGO Horizon collaboration. Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson confirmed the same.

Read more about the video game industry, the recent layoffs, and insider scoop on our interview with Aftermath’s Nathan Grayson.