The Legacy of the Mafia Franchise, as Told by the Developers Who Make It

It’s considerably sobering to assume that the Mafia franchise is almost 1 / 4 of a century outdated. Many of the individuals who make the video games have been engaged on it for even longer. What started life in 2002 with the launch of Phantasm Softworks’ Mafia has turn into a major franchise for writer 2K. And, like most different sequence of comparable classic, Mafia has seen its ups and downs. However it’s nonetheless alive and kicking, even now, 25 years later.

At this time, August 14, 2K releases Mafia: The Omertà Assortment, which incorporates Mafia: The Previous Nation Definitive Version, Mafia: Definitive Version, Mafia 2: Definitive Version, and Mafia 3: Definitive Version. There’s additionally a free replace for Mafia: Definitive Version on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Sequence X and S so as to add 60 frames-per-second gameplay — one thing followers have been crying out for for years. It’s a busy time certainly for the Mafia franchise and its developer, Hangar 13.

It is unattainable to supply a complete ‘making of’ the complete franchise and all its years of improvement in a single hour-long interview, however I gave it an excellent shot after I sat down to speak to Hangar 13 president Nick Baynes, Hangar 13 basic supervisor Roman Hladík, Mafia: The Previous Nation recreation director Alex Cox, and cinematics director Tomas Hrebicek. Roman and Tomas, by the means, have labored on Mafia from the very starting, becoming a member of the Czech Republic studio Phantasm Softworks in the metropolis of Brno to form what would turn into the first Mafia online game. They’ve seen all of it: the acquisition from 2K guardian firm Take-Two in 2008, the rebrand to 2K Czech, and the merger into 2K’s Hangar 13 in 2017, and they’re nonetheless right here, nonetheless making Mafia video games.

So, in case you’ve bought even a passing curiosity in the Mafia video games, I hope you discover one thing attention-grabbing in the interview under. We talk about all the predominant video games and the challenges they confronted, get some perception into the choices that have been made at the time, and there’s even room for a bit of Mafia tease for the future.

Mafia 1

IGN: I feel the apparent start line is at the starting, the preliminary premise of what Mafia was getting down to do. Is it doable to hint that line to the place it’s now and the way it’s advanced?

Roman Hladík: If I am going again to the early instances of Phantasm Softworks, which was the indie studio the place it began, we joined it most likely in 1998, if I keep in mind properly. It was at a time when the studio was already engaged on Hidden & Harmful 1, the recreation, and the proprietor of the studio needed to increase the enterprise and principally set up one other group. So he known as a pair of us, however we have been actually younger people at the time with little or no expertise of making video games as hobbies. And first we have been serious about one thing fully totally different, however then the proprietor of the studio went to an exhibition and got here again with the thought or with the data that the recreation we have been contemplating, many different comparable video games have been being developed at the time.

We began to consider a recreation that will be about crime, police, possibly a policeman investigating the crime, nevertheless it flipped round afterward. And I feel it was Daniel Vávra who introduced the concept that there can be a powerful story, which was not that widespread at the time. And so it occurred that the first unique Mafia was principally appreciated for the story, for combining the gameplay parts and the story.

I do not assume that was a transparent intention at the starting. It simply occurred, how the concepts have been coming collectively and what we favored to play and so forth. So it was, I might say, pure ardour at the moment driving us to ship one thing like that. And I’ve to say that we have been all a bit of bit naive at the time. We did not know what we have been going to do. So we additionally struggled loads to complete the recreation. It took us 4, four-and-a-half years most likely, and it was all proper again then.

Tomas Hrebicek: I keep in mind we favored the gangster motion pictures, the romance behind it. So we have been watching Godfather, Miller’s Crossing, and Goodfellas. So I feel that each one mixed additionally the thought and we have been beginning to speak about that sort of recreation and the story and luxuriate in the romantic half of the gangsters, but additionally to point out the darkish sides of it. And as Roman mentioned, this time we wish to convey this tremendous robust story, but additionally it was the first time we began to do the cinematography in the video games. I imagine we have been the first ones to pay a lot consideration to the cinematics half in that. So as Roman mentioned, we have been fairly younger, naive, and we have been studying. Myself, I used to be chargeable for the cinematics, however I did not have any college on that. I used to be simply watching motion pictures, analyzing them shot by shot. And all of us have been simply studying on the means and making an attempt to do the greatest.

Roman Hladík: And it is truthful to say that it was Tomas who introduced the cinematic half to the recreation, and he does it nonetheless at the moment principally on all the Mafias.

IGN: How did you’re feeling coming off the again of the first Mafia? Did its success take anybody by shock? Was there a sense even then that this was going to be a long-running franchise and also you needed to begin plotting issues out in a grander sense?

Roman Hladík: I might say for us as builders, it got here as a shock. We did not count on this unique Mafia to be this profitable. Possibly the proprietor, Petr Vochozka, at the moment hoped for an enormous success. However I feel to all of us who have been on the workforce, it got here as a shock. As a result of ending a recreation — and I feel it is nonetheless the identical — sooner or later it feels a bit of bit countless. You might be nonetheless debugging and iterating on the recreation and we’re already drained and pissed off. So I might say we had that unfavourable feeling in ourselves.

However then when it got here out and gamers admire it, it is all the time a pleasure to really feel that suggestions. If the recreation is properly acquired, then you definitely’re getting the constructive suggestions. So undoubtedly it was, not less than for me, a shock. And since it was a industrial success as properly, it was fairly apparent that we’re going to do the second one.

Alex Cox: I began engaged on the franchise a pair of years after this was, however one factor that all the time struck me is how a lot of a cultural export Mafia was from the Czech Republic, at the time, a rustic that was nonetheless 10 years or so impartial. And if we take into consideration Tomb Raider and the way that was for the UK as one thing that broke out as a online game property, I feel that is double the case for Mafia from the Czech Republic, from a comparatively small nation in Central Europe, for the video games being internationally profitable was fairly a giant deal for you guys, I assume.

After I visited the nation for the first time, I used to be very shocked at how many individuals knew Mafia when, for instance, you are in a taxi and the taxi driver is aware of the franchise. It was a lot, rather more excessive profile than I used to be anticipating after I arrived there. So I do not know whether or not you guys get pleasure from any diploma of celeb in a means that is likely to be shocking to folks exterior of Czech?

Tomas Hrebicek: I might say it took us by shock as a result of as Roman mentioned, it took us a lot time to develop the first recreation. I am not pleased with the output till I get the constructive suggestions from the viewers. So I see loads of issues we are able to enhance all the time. And likewise I might say the advertising and marketing was not again then, it was not that robust in America. And so it was an enormous constructive shock how broadly and internationally Mafia was recognized. So as Roman mentioned, it was a industrial success, in order that opened the door to Mafia 2. And I feel Alex, you joined in the direction of the finish or the center of Mafia 2?

Alex Cox: Round the center, sure. I used to be working for 2K at the time and I joined the venture when 2K have been going to amass Phantasm. The recreation had been in improvement for a number of years with Phantasm as an impartial studio. Take-Two had labored with Phantasm on many video games earlier than, together with Hidden & Harmful. And so there was a detailed industrial relationship between the studio and the writer. And since 2K had loads of religion in Mafia 2 particularly, the studio was acquired and Phantasm grew to become 2K Czech a pair of years earlier than Mafia 2 was shipped. And that was after I first joined the story as a producer at the time at 2K.

Mafia 2

Roman Hladík: As Alex talked about, it took us seven years to develop the second Mafia, which was much more than the first one. And why I feel it occurred? After the success of the unique Mafia, we bought a sense that now we are able to do no matter we would like. And the ambitions have been actually excessive. So I might say we arrange the design and the ambitions for our second Mafia actually excessive. After which clearly it was possibly a bit too massive a problem for the workforce to work it out. And likewise the know-how has developed over the time. The competitors was stronger and so forth. In order that was all the the explanation why it took seven years. Nicely, once more, we made it in the finish, nevertheless it was additionally a very long time and never straightforward time, all the time.

Alex Cox: However you talked about the competitors. It’s attention-grabbing, is not it? If we forged our minds again to that point, open world crime video games have been very talked-about. There have been loads of different franchises on the market as properly making an attempt to do the identical type of factor. And there was a transition, wasn’t there? As a result of the unique Mafia was primarily a PC recreation. It was a recreation that was developed on PC. It had a clumsy console port, however really it gained loads of its reputation inside the PC viewers as a result of it was the first open-world crime recreation that was out there on PC. Clearly had the cinematic method you guys mentioned.

However at the time, the massive problem, I feel, was to maneuver the recreation from its PC roots. We have been in the pre-Steam period there. So PC was a comparatively restricted market. And there was a giant industrial push to make the recreation right into a console recreation to get on the market alongside the different open-world crime video games that have been breaking out in the mass market.

And that was one of the massive technological challenges, wasn’t it? As a result of midway by improvement, there was a giant engine change, wasn’t there? To go from RenderWare to start out with after which onto your personal engine, which contributes to the delays and create quite a bit of complexity and challenges there?

Roman Hladík: That is all appropriate. It was know-how which was difficult, and it was additionally the development of the studio, the workforce. As a result of after we have been ending Mafia 1, it was round possibly 30 folks. However then on Mafia 2, we grew as much as virtually 200, if I keep in mind properly. So it was additionally about managing the greater workforce and all the challenges that are coming with that.

Nick Baynes: At the moment, I feel I am proper in saying the complete workforce was in Czech?

Alex Cox: That is proper. The complete workforce was in Czech. I imply, clearly the studio’s advanced over the course of time to be rather more worldwide, however there was a giant tradition change as properly, wasn’t there at the moment as I keep in mind. I used to be working for the writer. We grew to become very rather more intently concerned with improvement when Phantasm joined the 2K group. And I feel there was a giant tradition change for you guys there as properly, wasn’t there, in phrases of how you can adapt to one thing like a extra fashionable recreation improvement studio.

Tomas Hrebicek: It was a fantastic transition from this simply closed Czech-only studio in Mafia 1, transitioned by Mafia 2, partially worldwide as a result of we now have cooperation with 2K publishing. For instance, all the movement seize for the first two video games have been occurring purely in Czech Republic. After which the English efficiency was finished by dubbing ADR post-pro.

Throughout Mafia 2, we got here already to sound sales space studios collectively and we spent months recording voiceovers, enjoying the actual dubbing of the cinematics. And the distinction is de facto seen between the Mafia 1 and Mafia 2. So the cooperation was a lot nearer. After which on Mafia 3, we labored with American actors in an American studio. So there was transition over the video games.

Alex Cox: That is actually attention-grabbing, is not it? As a result of I keep in mind the first recreation was translated from Czech, Daniel Vávra’s script in Czech, after which somebody in the UK mounted up some typos and textual content points in the script. In the second recreation, really an American scriptwriter took the script, did not they? They usually spent months and months remodeling it and truly working with the expertise in the studio. In order that was a giant evolution in phrases of the inventive high quality of the VO. After which clearly you guys have been working to the VO if you have been doing the mocap, in order that was attention-grabbing.

After which by the time we bought to 3, of course, yeah, we have been doing all of that inventive manufacturing facet of issues had largely moved to America. So once more, there was I would say a step up in phrases of definitely the Americanization facet of it. It was fairly uncommon for you guys to be writing American video games and tales set in America from Czech Republic, clearly, with loads of references to TV reveals and flicks fairly than lived experiences.

Tomas Hrebicek: What’s humorous, loads of stuff in unique Mafia 1 is from Brno, like the church and all that stuff. So we have been simply making an attempt to get the American feeling from the pictures from the books, however all the influences have been taken in Brno, right here round. On Mafia 2 and Mafia 3, we’re ready already to journey and take the photos and actual stuff in America.

IGN: How do you’re feeling about Mafia 2 trying again, good and unhealthy? Is there something there that you just assume you would have maybe finished barely otherwise?

Roman Hladík: Nicely, it is troublesome to say. I’ve to say that I like the Mafia 2 loads. As a result of I feel we managed to get the ambiance of an American metropolis higher than what we did in the first one, for the causes which Tomas talked about. As a result of nobody of us was touring to U.S. earlier than. So with Mafia 2, we already had an opportunity and we tried to do our greatest to seize that in the recreation. It’s all the time stylized. The metropolis is way smaller than the actual cities, no matter, however I feel we bought it in a significantly better means.

I feel we have been criticized at the time that we’re not utilizing the open world as a lot as we must always. That was possibly what was dragging our scores a bit of bit decrease throughout the launch. However it’s attention-grabbing that over the time folks admire Mafia 2 increasingly. They do not see these flaws they usually loved the story, which is nice. So I feel there was a bit of bit of controversy in the Mafia 2 was launched as a result of it most likely did not match all the expectations from gamers, nevertheless it nonetheless delivered a really strong leisure story and actions, which gamers began to love. I do not know how you can say that. It’s all the time about the expectations versus the actuality, and there was a bit of bit of hole there. So I want we might ship extra. However as we mentioned earlier than, it was a difficult venture for all of us and we did our greatest, and that is what was launched in the finish.

So possibly if we do it lately, we might most likely ship extra of the content material to the open world. However that is all I can say most likely.

Alex Cox: At the time, loads of video games have been increasing outwards, weren’t they? So I feel what you say there Roman is totally true. What gamers anticipated and what they bought was not fairly the identical factor, nevertheless it’s not as a result of of what we tried to — I feel we have been fairly trustworthy about what the recreation was after we launched it — however gamers fairly moderately had an expectation, I feel, notably in phrases of extra open-world content material.

There have been tales about we minimize heaps of stuff out of the recreation and issues like that as properly, which was swirling round after launch, which have been fairly exaggerated. I imply, to Roman’s level, it was a troublesome recreation to launch and we did need to trim a bit of scope, however we did not change the recreation dramatically from an enormous open-world recreation to what it was. I imply, we’re speaking about a bit of bit of facet content material solely actually.

Wanting again on it now, I fully agree with Roman. It’s the recreation that got here closest, I feel, to matching all people’s fantasy of their thoughts about what they see once they see Mafia on a field. I is likely to be repeating one thing that Daniel Vávra mentioned in the previous, that Mafia 2 was virtually his revision of Mafia 1 virtually to enhance and resolve points that he had with the first recreation and eager to do higher. And I feel he succeeded there in phrases of the story. And it hit that sort of Goodfellas type of vibe, which resonated properly in phrases of the story, in phrases of the tone, in phrases of the setting and every little thing like that landed very properly.

I simply assume it suffered a bit of bit from gamers’ expectations at the time, when extra was definitely thought-about higher in virtually each means for an open-world recreation. However yeah, I nonetheless assume it is remembered very fondly, and I feel for all of the proper causes, that is it’s lasted the check of time.

Roman Hladík: What I feel labored properly in Mafia 2 was this chemistry between the predominant character, Vito, and his fellow Joe Barbaro. That is most likely one thing which individuals favored and it was actually enjoyable to see the story based mostly on these two characters that works nonetheless at the moment, I imagine, when folks play it.

Mafia 3

IGN: When it was determined that Mafia 3 would comply with, what have been you making an attempt to attain? It adopted six years after Mafia 2, so there was an enormous quantity of improvement time there as properly. It’d be nice to get some perception into the ups and downs of that.

Alex Cox: Mafia 3 was an extended journey, and truly that did coincide with one other evolution of the studio construction as properly. So my half of the story, I began working at the studio as a designer at that time so I can speak as a developer for Mafia 3. We began on a model of Mafia 3 in the Czech Republic. So there was a prototype model of Mafia 3, an earlier model of the recreation that in the end we shipped, that we labored on for a pair of years after Mafia 2. And the objective was to go rather more open world. In order that was our complete angle on it. There was a narrative. Once more, the story was quite a bit totally different than the one we in the end shipped, nevertheless it did contain the New Orleans setting that we in the end used for Mafia 3.

And once more, it had fairly a unique design. We have been going fairly closely into the thought of story optionality, story selections and issues like that. There was a unique hero. It was rather more targeted on the Italian Mafia type of vibe, and it was extra of a direct sequence to Mafia 2.

However that venture for one cause or one other fell on stony floor. We had some improvement challenges there, notably on the technical facet. Our ambition began to overreach as a result of we have been nonetheless principally constructing on high of the Mafia 2 engine, and our ambitions have been beginning to overreach what we have been capable of technically do, notably in phrases of — really speak about fairly simple improvement issues — it was changing into more durable and more durable for us to recruit builders as a result of the tech was so idiosyncratic. Whereas loads of the broad swathe of recreation improvement was shifting to middleware and standardized editors and issues like that in phrases of how you can develop, our inner know-how was changing into more and more troublesome to recruit.

And likewise at the time, clearly 15 years in the past, we have been requiring folks to maneuver to the Czech Republic. It was increasingly troublesome for us to recruit internationally as properly. And that was changing into an even bigger want as a result of we wanted to herald expertise to assist to fulfill fashionable expectations for open-world video games. So we had varied challenges there that in the end resulted in a brand new studio being fashioned, and the studio being rebranded from 2K Czech to Hangar 13, the studio that shipped Mafia 3, and a brand new studio location being opened in California in Novato. And there was a reboot of the venture at that time. We targeted in on the New Orleans story half of the story from the first model of the recreation, however the reboot took a considerably totally different route. And the new studio head who’s now not with us, Haden Blackman, who was additionally the inventive chief of the venture, took over.

And in order that in the end over the course of the subsequent three or so years after that led to Mafia 3. So the identical type of design intent, to maneuver Mafia extra in the direction of an open-world format. However the story modified considerably, about the civil rights storyline, Lincoln Clay as the hero, the thought of the black mafia versus the Italian mafia as the enemy. All of these ideas got here in alongside a giant shift in phrases of the recreation design method to, to illustrate, most open world, if we have been going to explain it kindly.

Roman Hladík: I feel that was the essential change throughout the improvement, that the new inventive thoughts behind the Mafia was Haden Blackman. However the studio, which at the time was fashioned at Novato, California, was not purely new folks coming. It was additionally loads of folks shifting from Czech to the U.S. who have been then working from there. So it was a combination of unique Mafia builders and new folks coming to California to work on Mafia 3.

Nick Baynes: And of course the workforce again in Czech continued to exist, so it was an extension of that workforce, proper?

Alex Cox: Sure. And that was, once more, one other massive tradition change for the studio. The California studio introduced in an terrible lot of expertise as properly. We had the profit of with the ability to recruit from locations like LucasArts and others in the Bay Space. In order that introduced loads of experience onto the workforce, which was nice.

Mafia 3 was one other exhausting improvement. And sadly, I feel our ambition, once more, was in the end what held the venture again in the finish. The excellent story, all of the identical strengths as the earlier two titles. I feel Haden and the narrative workforce did a fantastic job in presenting this civil rights storyline, treading fairly a tightrope there of placing that on the display screen in a means that I feel most video games would shrink back from. And so we’re very proud of how that facet of the venture landed. It’s only a bit of a disgrace that — I do not assume there’s any secret right here to say that the open-world parts of the recreation really ended up holding it again regardless of being one thing that we would invested closely in.

However the constructive half of that story — the recreation did okay solely, commercially, critically a bit of bit disappointing — however the engine, the technical facet of the recreation, we did handle to resolve, and our inner know-how actually bought as much as a fantastic customary. And that truly in the finish helped us to maneuver onto the path we’re on now, as a result of that helped us to do Mafia: Definitive Version and the remake of Mafia, which we did a number of years later off the again of the Mafia 3 know-how. So there was a pleasant sudden profit to that after we did end that recreation.

Roman Hladík: One thing the workforce in California dropped at Mafia, it was a bit of bit higher set in the U.S. setting, I might say. We did Mafia in Europe, and it was all the time our stylized view of how the American cities are trying like, how the life is in these cities and the way the American mafia works. So I feel having Haden Blackman in cost and having so many designers in California, it allowed us to ship extra on what… I might say for U.S. market, it was all of a sudden not a European view of their nation. It was extra becoming the U.S. prospects, I might say. That is what occurred as properly with Mafia 3. For the first time we used the likeness of the actors, which was not the case in earlier Mafias.

IGN: Was the preliminary concentrate on open world a response to Mafia 2? Was it about the developments at the time? Why was that the massive funding?

Roman Hladík: I feel it was the suggestions from 2. And to be trustworthy, for us as builders, if you end up constructing an enormous metropolis, you wish to use it, you wish to ship different tales, different actions inside that metropolis. And what constrained us on 2 was our capability to ship on time, I might say. So it was fairly apparent that we’re going to attempt in a greater means in the Mafia 3. And I feel it did properly. Possibly the actions in the open-world of Mafia 3 is likely to be a bit of bit repetitive, however I feel you’ll be able to spend a lot, rather more time in that recreation and luxuriate in the setting than it was in earlier Mafias. So sure, undoubtedly the suggestions from the gamers was the driver.

Alex Cox: We have got fairly a fractured viewers really now. Every of the Mafia video games is considerably totally different to the others. There’s possibly a constant core by the center of narrative-driven motion journey, however every iteration of the recreation has introduced in a brand new tranche of gamers to our viewers base. And truly there are a large quantity, possibly a extra silent quantity of gamers that like Mafia 3, like that sort of, to illustrate, Ubisoft model territory management model open-world that we targeted on in that recreation. And it was fairly profitable for them, notably in phrases of offering heaps of gameplay hours. Every little thing that Roman simply talked about, that did land properly with a large proportion of gamers. And truly of all of the video games that we have shipped, Mafia 3 has reached the most gamers by far. It was the greatest Mafia recreation that we ever did in phrases of its scope, its scale, finances, its advertising and marketing, every little thing, and was profitable relative to all of these elements.

And it was, I feel, a response to Mafia 2 by and enormous. Definitely as a result of of the place video games have been at the time, pushing extra open-world was seen as the solution to make the recreation higher and extra profitable, definitely by all people. There was a widespread perception that this might succeed.

IGN: Individuals do examine Mafia to GTA, rightly and wrongly. You see movies evaluating the two video games all the time. Has the comparability to GTA turn into an element of the Mafia franchise, irrespective of whether or not you’ve gone extra open world or linear? Is {that a} factor that has factored into any considering round what you do? Or is it only one of these issues that occurs on-line and is not actually reflective of the actuality of the viewers that you’ve got constructed for the franchise?

Nick Baynes: I feel that genuinely at the studio, we have our personal path. It genuinely by no means ever comes up in dialog as a touchpoint or steering our technique or something like that. I feel clearly there’s loads of tales about that recreation on the market proper now as a result of one thing’s popping out later this 12 months! However yeah, genuinely, I feel it is an web factor. It’s not one thing the studio seems to be at. So I feel I am afraid there’s not a wealthy vein of solutions to present you for that.

Mafia: Definitive Version

IGN: The Previous Nation went again on that open-world funding once more to a extra targeted, linear recreation. It’s been out for a 12 months now. How do you’re feeling about it, and what improvement challenges did you face?

Nick Baynes: Round 2018 is after I and Brighton enters the scene, so I am the new boy of eight years in comparison with these guys. However I feel it might be remiss, I feel, to go straight to The Previous Nation with out acknowledging the significance of Mafia: Definitive Version as properly. As a result of I feel that in case you have a look at Hangar 13 as a studio, it had gone off in a barely totally different route round the time the Brighton studio began. We have been engaged on one other recreation, however the Brighton studio was rising. We needed to ship one thing as a result of the recreation we’re engaged on in the end did not ship, nevertheless it was fairly a big, formidable recreation. So we needed to ship one thing as a studio. We needed to search out one thing to assist develop Brighton and construct the groups and the way all of us labored collectively.

And we felt that it was an acceptable time to construct on the Mafia 3 engine and do a remake of Mafia 1, which I feel really was most likely one of the first wave of the fashionable remakes. I feel now clearly there’s loads of floor up remakes which are made, however I feel after we have been doing Mafia: Definitive Version, we have been definitely one of the first ones I feel got here out of that. And that was attention-grabbing as a result of firstly, it created this actually nice working relationship and workforce construction between the UK workplace and Czech, which is the place the Mafia video games are made just about completely lately. It additionally confirmed us really the quantity of love that got here again for that recreation in phrases of simply the story focus, the tough dimension of it in phrases of scope. And so when the studio did undergo a number of extra modifications a pair of years later and we have been taking a look at what we needed to do with the franchise, it felt prefer it was an excellent time to — you talked earlier about the by line — to return to that nearly to what made Mafia nice in the first place. Very tight, targeted, genuine narrative tales that basically immersed the participant. And for us, we have been going into a brand new engine. We have been going again to the origin of Mafia. It was very a lot a case of let’s ship a traditional Mafia story after which develop it from there.

And by develop it from there, what I imply can be the further content material we labored on over the final 12 months in phrases of, if you add in the DLC and the additional free journey content material and the open-world content material that you could entry there, all of a sudden it seems like a a lot deeper bundle. That was simply so as to add that context in the center of the soar from Mafia 3 to The Previous Nation.

Mafia: Definitive Version Screenshots