2K Games and Hangar 13 have confirmed that Mafia: The Old Country will feature Sicilian voice actors after fans noticed that there was no option for Italian dubbing on Steam.
As a final surprise at Gamescom Opening Night Live, it was announced that the next game in the mafia Series, Mafia: The Old Countryis currently in development for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S and will launch in 2025.
Although we only received a short cinematic teaser trailer, the game is now available to wishlist in the relevant stores.
Soon after the reveal, however, some fans found additional information on the Steam page suggesting that the game would not feature an Italian audio option despite its Italian roots.
Instead, the site lists six available languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Czech and Russian, but also offers Italian subtitles and interface options.
“Look, I’m not very picky about voice acting in video games, but why doesn’t the first game in the entire Mafia series, set in Sicily, have Italian audio?” wrote one user.
Mafia: The Old Country > is about the mafia > is set in Italy > has no Italian voice actors. Please make it understandable. pic.twitter.com/Z2xAt7aF6p20 August 2024
Fortunately, 2K Games and Hangar 13 have now provided insight into the matter in a new statement on X / Twitter, explaining that The old country will contain the authentic Sicilian dialect of Sicily in the 1990s, not Italian voice acting.
“Authenticity is at the heart of mafia Franchise and Mafia: The Old Country will feature voice acting in Sicilian, in keeping with the game’s setting in 20th century Sicily,” the post says. “Additionally, Italian language localization will be available for both the in-game UI and via subtitles.”
Mafia: The Old Country doesn’t have a release date yet, but Hangar 13 has promised to take another look at the game in December. We also got a brief description of what the next installment will be about:
“Discover the origins of organized crime in Mafia: The Old Countrya dark mafia story set in the brutal underworld of 20th century Sicily,” it says.
“Fight for survival in this dangerous and unforgiving era, with action fueled by the authentic realism and rich storytelling of the critically acclaimed mafia series is known.”
