A Humble Beginning for the Old Country

Sure, here we go:

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Okay, so “Mafia: The Old Country” hit the shelves for PC and consoles. But don’t get too excited. It’s like the whole franchise thing got stuck in slow motion. Not that I’m a numbers guy, but it’s clear it’s lagging behind at least some of its older siblings. Not a clue how much cash it’ll pull in or what it’ll cost to break even, but early hints sound meh.

Oh, by the way, they first shouted about it back in August 2024. Fast forward, and here we are in August 2025, with it on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series… the usual suspects. OpenCritic’s giving it a “Strong” badge with a 77-score average. Whatever that means. Likes? Well, nice production values and a story nod to its roots. But some folks say it’s just a bit too comfy — safe even. Like, come on, surprise us a little!

Now, what’s interesting (or maybe not) is this: on Steam, Saturday after its Friday drop, it got 35,247 players online at once. SteamDB came through with the numbers, and well, back in 2016, Mafia 3 almost reached 48k concurrent players. Yeah, I checked. And as of yet another slow afternoon in August, the game managed a third place on Steam’s top chart, only beaten by Counter-Strike 2 and Battlefield 6. What can I say? Quiet season.

Quick sidebar: Here’s the rundown on Mafia games’ Steam numbers — in a table, if I could show you:

– Mafia: 9,112 players back in 2002.
– Mafia 2 peaked at 29,474 players.
– Mafia 3? Almost touching 48k.
– Mafia 2: Definitive Edition brought in 6,162.
– The Definitive Edition pulled off 36,679.
– And the new kid? Just over 35k, sporting a 77 OpenCritic score.

Now, maybe you’re curious about its sales? Or maybe not. But here goes: Early estimates from some gaming oracles, Gamalytic and PlayTracker, say 186,000 copies sold quick on Steam within the first day and a half. Guessing now — like they do — could mean hitting 700k units in the first week. I dunno, sounds ambitious since they got just a quarter of that in the first days.

Anyway — hold up — let’s see. From what publishers grunt, PC users rake up about half AAA game sales, give or take. For a single-player Mafia kind of game, it’s probably less, about 33%. And with Steam as the sole guilty party for PC distribution, all eyes are on it. Heck, even PlayStation reviews are barely skimming 4k, a measly tenth of what Mafia 3 saw. Even imagining a 0.01 review-to-sales ratio, that’s 400k PS5 sales. Xbox? Even quieter, under 300 reviews.

Overall, total sales don’t look like they’ll crack a million soon. Tiny, I say, for a series boasting over 35 million total sales. Considering discounts and platforms’ fees (say, 30% or less for high sales on Steam), they’ll need to move 1.76 million units to hit $60 million in revenue. Still, this doesn’t guarantee a break-even. It’s all obscure without knowing the production costs since, like 2K, no one’s keen on sharing the tea on those development budgets. Anyhow, “Mafia: The Old Country” is hobbling off the block.

Sources? Yeah, Gamalytic and PlayTracker say hi.