Video game announcements have evolved over the years, morphing from robust blowouts to more subtle reveals on social media. What used to take up a full, 10-page spread in your favorite magazine has dropped to a simple 280 characters. That’s the maximum amount of characters a single tweet can hold. And, in most cases, like that of 2K’s Mafia Twitter account, a reveal might only need seven characters (or less) to tease its next… project? Remaster? Mafia IV?
Mi Familia
The first tweet sent from the seemingly abandoned account came this past weekend. The Mafia account was last used to promote Mafia III, the last known entry in the franchise. That was until the wee hours of May 10, when a tweet appeared that reads, “Family.” If this wasn’t enough to get people-a-chattin’, another one was released today, only reading, “Power.” At the time of writing this, the “Power.” tweet (see below) has also been pinned to the profile.
Power.
— Mafia Game (@mafiagame) May 11, 2020
Mafio-so, now what?
The last Mafia game to release in the series was Mafia III, developed by Hangar 13 back in 2016. The series introduced Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam war veteran who’s returned home to New Bordeaux. The location is a reimagination of New Orleans, set in the late 1960s, which places Clay in the middle of war both home and abroad. Clay returns home to New Bordeaux in an attempt to find some normalcy while still dealing with visible racial tensions of the era. In Mafia III, to reflect that disparity, police officers are more attentive to Clay when driving or in “white” neighborhoods.
There’s still a big question as to what exactly is being teased. Is this a remaster of all previously released Mafia games – a bundle of 1, 2, and 3? Is Mafia IV on the horizon? Either way, one could only assume that this was announcement best prepared for a big E3 2020 reveal – which may still happen, given the recent efforts of Geoff Keighley and the Summer Game Fest event. 2K has been listed as a partner for the four-month-long summer event.
