LogInThen-Mafia writer and now co-founder of Warhorse Studios, Daniel Vávra shared some photos from a joint event.
Take-Two
Daniel Vávra is known as the co-founder of Warhorse Studios, the creator of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but once, he was a game designer and writer of Mafia, and he has some memories to share.
Did you know that Mafia and GTA 3 were in development at the same time and for the same publisher? That's what Vávra revealed on X/Twitter and even added some photos from a 2001 PR event in Germany at a pool of a former military base.
"One corner GTA, another Mafia. Rockstar managed to finish the game 10 months sooner than us, and they took the crown of OG most famous open-world gangster game. I was in Rockstar New York office three months after they shipped the game to direct voiceovers. Oh my, they were bathing in fame."
Eventually, Mafia was published by Gathering of Developers, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive. Illusion Softworks, now 2K Czech, the developer of the series, was acquired by Take-Two several years later, becoming Rockstar's sibling.
GTA 3 was a hit for Rockstar, with the upcoming GTA 6 becoming the most anticipated game, probably ever.
The third installment introduced many interesting ideas, like the cinematic camera, which was created because Obbe Vermeij, former technical director at Rockstar, thought riding trains in-game was boring.
He also shared that the developers had to slow down the player to ensure everything loaded properly. That's why you can't fly in the game.
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