Mafia: The Old Country was inspired by The Godfather and Sicilian knife fights

During PAX East 2025, 2K revealed its latest trailer for Mafia: The Old Country. The latest entry in the long-running crime series will deliver familiar mob action that fans have come to expect, but it’s bringing one big change too. Rather than taking place in America, players will now get to run wild in Sicily.

Shortly after the trailer was revealed, Digital Trends sat down with members of the Mafia development team to chat about the latest installment. The team tells us why it decided to take the series to Italy and revealed how the Sicilian setting changed the game. One big impact that the shift had? Knife fighting. Lots of knife fighting.

The passage of time

The Mafia series has a long history of putting players in the cement shoes of various mobsters from the 20th century. The majority of its installments up until now take place all throughout America, primarily on the East Coast. That’s all while telling a compelling story with characters to which players typically get attached. Mafia: The Old Country is looking to shake things up. Game director Alex Cox had a simple elevator pitch for the latest entry.

“The way we described this from the very beginning was Mafia meets The Godfather in 1900s Sicily,” Cox tells Digital Trends. “That’s the internal phrase we used when talking to other developers, because it gives you a really clear image in your head of what the game is immediately.” 

Nick Baynes, studio president at Hangar 13, reassures fans that it will be a “classic Mafia mob story.” The only difference is that it’ll take place in a “brand new, beautiful location.” One of the many things that has Baynes excited is that it’s a prequel to the other installments. That’s because he sees it as “a great jumping on point” for new players.

Both setting and time are crucial to The Old Country. Since it’ll be taking place in the early 1900s, players will see the transition from one era to another. That’s by design, because the passage of time plays a major thematic role in the story.

“It’s a period of change in Sicily,” Cox says. “There’s a big number of Sicilians at that time who started to emigrate to America. That’s something we’ve tried to reflect on through the whole creative development from the story and mechanics as well.”

Baynes says that players will begin to notice this as they play through the game. He points to the world’s streets as an example, explaining how players will quickly notice how some roads in-game are better suited for horse travel while others are clearly made with vehicles in mind. As they progress further into the story, players will begin to see horse roads slowly being phased out in favor of ones built for cars.

Knives out

The team really wanted to focus on combat this time around, making it feel more dangerous. Every bullet counts, which is why the devs implemented a looting feature that players can perform after combat. Ammo preservation is paramount, so some dirty scavenging is required to stay alive. Players won’t just mow down rivals in shootouts, though. Knives play an important role in combat this time, as blades come with distinct abilities. The addition of knife dueling isn’t just a twist for the sake of change; it ties back into the story and setting.

“Sicily has a knife-fighting tradition, and it’s something we felt was quite iconic for the idea of Sicilian gangsters,” Cox says. “[Knife Dueling] is a special gameplay mode, where certain characters will appear as bosses, and you have to fight them to death with your knife.”

Getting this right was so important that the team sent a few members to Sicily to meet those who make traditional Sicilian knives and watch how these knife fights would play out in real life. It wasn’t just a cool field trip for the team, but important research to make sure that the combat felt as accurate to its inspiration as possible. That bleeds into a larger theme with The Old Country, as Italian authenticity was the goal. The team wanted to ensure that players got a unique cultural experience while still staying true to the Mafia identity.

“‘How is it different to play in Sicily?’ It’s the knives, the location. We’re having combat in Greek ruins and in catacombs under the ground. Locations that are very distinctive to Sicily. We have horse chases [where you] jump onto cars.”

It was essential to create this sense of adventure because it may be one of a kind. “This is probably the only time we visit a location like this in the Mafia series,” Cox says. Since The Old Country isn’t in an urban environment like previous titles, it allowed the team to “go heavy” when it came to leaning into the “thrilling adventure vibe.”

The team is putting in a lot of work to ensure that Mafia: The Old Country respects Sicilian culture while still creating something that fits in the Mafia universe. You can see all of this for yourself in the new trailer, which features glimpses of knife fights and the new setting. Even if you’re a Mafia newcomer, The Old Country seems like it will be a strong starting point that functions both as an entry to the series and a portal to another era.

Mafia: The Old Country launches on August 8 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.