Hangar 13 recently revealed a ton of information regardingMafia: The Old Country, with the upcoming title shaping up to be a fascinating addition to the studio’s longstanding gritty franchise.The Old Countrywill take the series as far back as it has ever been, showcasing the Italian origins of the organized crime institutions that made their way over to the United States and featured so heavily in the franchise’s three previous installments.
After months of anticipation, fans recently received a full gameplay trailer forMafia: The Old Country, showcasing a fascinating blend of exploration and combat mechanics that merges the franchise’s usual experiences with the more dated context of the title’s early 1900s setting. As well as this, the trailer gave some insight into the available platforms and release date ofThe Old Country, with the game’s confirmed price tag being a point of real interest.Mafia: The Old Countrywill be available for $50 when it launches on August 8, continuing a relieving trend away from the inverse pattern of upcoming titles charging $80 and above.
Mafia: The Old Country’s Pricing Goes Against a Concerning Industry Trend
The core premise ofMafia: The Old Countryalready seems fascinating, with its setting allowing the game to portray the chaotic clash of eras that occurred around the turn of the century. Showcasing the final years before the franchise’s organized crime families branched out from Italy to the United States,The Old Countrysimultaneously features horseback riding and high-octane car chases, giving just a brief insight into the themes of rapid change and manic opportunity that are likely at the heart of the game’s story.
The conflicting technology and gameplay themes ofMafia: The Old Countryhave already drawn comparisons to theRed Dead Redemptionfranchise, with Hangar 13 hopefully making the most of the project’s fascinating time period.
Fans have waited almost a decade since the last majormainline release for theMafiaseries, with a clear demand being placed on a new entry likeThe Old Country, yet the official price point for the game thankfully does not take advantage of this anticipation. With initial reports pricing the game at $50, it seems as if players are in for a more affordable experience compared to more recent trends across the gaming industry, adding to a growing catalog of similarly priced games that have wowed players in recent months.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33is an excellent example of a recent project that is also priced at $50, with the game garnering a huge amount of positive attention to the point where it is considered a real candidate for2025’s Game Of The Yearin the eyes of some fans. Of course, other recent projects likeOblivion Remasteredalso released at a similar price point, proving the efficacy of more affordable titles reaching wide audiences while still possessing the necessary level of polish and enjoyment.
$50 Games Are Offering a Breath of Fresh Air Compared to the Upcoming Dominance of $80 Releases
This trend comes in the wake of a more controversial pattern across the industry, with $80 slowly becoming a new pricing standard for certain titles. Nintendo’s full announcement of the Nintendo Switch 2 was somewhat mired by the reveal ofMario Kart World’s $80 pricetag, with Microsoft also recently confirming that many Xbox games will be priced this way going forward, alongside some blanket price increases across all Xbox hardware.
This is only worsened by rumors such asGrand Theft Auto 6potentially costing upwards of $100, with an unusual split currently forming between studios offering cheaper or more expensive games compared to the long-established pricing standards of the industry. While the growing presence of $80 titles is understandably worrying for many players,Mafia: The Old Countrythankfully offers a defiant step forward towards exciting titles being released at a much more palatable $50 price tag.
