Developer Hangar 13 has abandoned the self-developed engine used for Mafia 3 in the new game Mafia: Hometown in favor of Unreal Engine 5. Studio President Nick Baines explained the decision in an interview with IGN with Game Director Alex Cox.
Cox said that Unreal Engine 5 comes with a lot of tools, such as MetaHuman, to help authentically restore Sicilian’s natural scenery and high-quality cinematic performances. “We pay special attention to the details of the environmental art and character performances, and Unreal Engine provides cutting-edge technical support.”
Baines mentioned that continuing to use the self-developed engine means spending a lot of time maintaining the toolchain, and they want to put more energy into gameplay, art and narrative. “No longer developing our own engine, we can focus on building higher-quality games.”
In addition, the development team initially familiarized themselves with Unreal Engine by recreating the Sicilian scene in Mafia 2, which continued the visual style and narrative atmosphere of the series.
Mafia: Homeland will be available on August 8 for PC, PS5 andXbox Series X/S。
