A rumour arose early this year alleging that 2K Games' studio Hangar 13 was working on a new Mafia game under new management, after the resignation of the longstanding president and chief creative officer Haden Blackman. General manager Roman Hladík has officially confirmed "Mafia 4" in an interview published on mafiagame.com to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the original Mafia.

"I'm happy to confirm we've started work on an all-new Mafia project!" Hladik said, PCGamer reported. "While it's a few years away and we can't share anything more right now, we're really excited to keep working on this beloved franchise and to entertain our players with new stories."

Aside from officially confirming "Mafia 4," Hladik is tight-lipped about other game details. However, the rumour in May said that Unreal Engine 5 would be utilized to create the next Mafia game rather than the proprietary engine that was used to create the other games.

What's more interesting was that the rumour claimed that the game would be a prequel to the current trilogy. It's not totally surprising that the company would choose yet another era for the fourth game, given how frequently the series has changed historical settings, from the turbulent late 1960s of Mafia 3 to the early 1930s of the first game.

At this point, Hangar 13 has not yet officially announced a "Mafia 4" release date. However, that's not stopping new rumours and speculations from popping up every now and then.

One interesting rumour came from Redditor TheTruthTeller1985, who claimed to have access to two anonymous individuals who are reportedly former part of Hangar 13 developers and journalists. The sources said that Hangar 13 started "prototyping" the game "Mafia 4" immediately after the final DLC of the previous game.

The sources claimed that development of the game stalled for almost one year due to internal issues but added that development has resumed for nine months already. According to OMGGamer, this could mean that the "Mafia 4" release date could happen at the start of 2023.

Mafia 3 screenshot
Lincoln's rage and military training is evident in the brutal combat. 2K Games
Mafia 3