Some newly emerged job listings suggest that Mafia 4 might feature multiplayer elements, in addition to hinting at a few other gameplay details about Hangar 13's upcoming game. The 2K subsidiary confirmed that a new Mafia game is in development back in August, but revealed virtually nothing else about the project ever since.
While Mafia 3 is already pushing seven nowadays, its sequel isn't expected to hit the market in the immediate future. Not least because its developer fell on some difficult times in recent years, with Hangar 13 being hit with substantial layoffs that decimated its staff in mid-2022. The studio's previous confirmation that Mafia 4 is in development also came with a provision that the game is still "years away" from releasing.
Be that as it may, some newly emerged job listings indicate that Hangar 13 already seems to have a clear picture of what Mafia 4 is supposed to be. How the fandom will react to that vision remains to be seen, especially seeing how one of these recently unearthed postings calls for a candidate with experience in making multiplayer or live-service games. For context, the first three installments in the Mafia franchise were all single-player games, though the later two were also monetized with post-launch DLC.
The new influx of Hangar 13 job listings also effectively confirms that Mafia 4 will feature stealth gameplay, as it calls for candidates who'd help design "engaging stealth and combat gameplay loops." This is a far less surprising revelation, seeing how stealth elements have been part of the series since the 2002 original. Yet stealth has also long been one of the weakest, clunkiest parts of the franchise. Mafia 3's stealth sections were particularly egregious, with enemy AI often being happy to follow Lincoln's whistles over ridiculous distances, all the while providing little in the way of an actual challenge.
The recently emerged job listings also seem to suggest that Mafia 4 will use Unreal Engine 5, as they specifically call for applicants experienced with one of the last two versions of Epic Games' ubiquitous engine. This requirement dovetails with a mid-2022 rumor that claimed Mafia 4 will be powered by Unreal Engine 5.
While another Hangar 13 job listing from March indicated that Mafia 4 might still be in pre-production, these newly discovered postings don't offer any new hints of the project's development status. That notwithstanding, between the studio's previous statements and the fact that it's currently trying to fill some fairly critical, senior positions following massive layoffs, it stands to reason that Mafia 4 won't be seeing the light of day anytime soon.
Mafia 4 is currently in development.
Source: Reddit