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

The Mafia video game franchise is often compared to the Grand Theft Auto games. The rivalry began when the first Mafia game came out in 2002, just a year after GTA 3. Fast forward nearly a quarter of a century and, in the run up to the release of last year’s Mafia: The Old Country , GTA reared its head once again. For a time, it looked like The Old Country might end up coming out within the vicinity of the behemoth that is GTA 6 . The Old Country’s developers had to explain the point of difference, why those comparisons were unfair, and manage expectations. In the end, Mafia dodged a bullet with GTA 6’s name on it; to have been a fly on the wall when Hangar 13 president Nick Baynes found out Rockstar's game had been pushed from fall 2025 to May 2026.

But are those comparisons to GTA entirely unfair? And does GTA ever factor into Hangar 13’s decision-making on Mafia? Never, Baynes told me as part of a sweeping oral history of the Mafia franchise .

Mafia: The Old Country – Meet Your New Family

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Source: Read the full article on IGN →