2K Games and Hangar 13 continue their promotional campaign for Mafia: The Old Country with a new making-of video, revealing the process of selecting actors for key roles. To bring the story set in early 1900s Sicily to life, teams sought actors who would fit the characters of Enzo, Isabella, Luca, and Gaetano. For Hangar 13, this required full performance capture, utilizing TCAP (Total Capture) technology that can record body movements, facial expressions, and voice in real-time. This method preserves the emotional authenticity of a scene without relying on artificial recomposition. According to developers, this approach delivers an “interpretative truth” that enhances cinematics and enriches implicit game interactions.
Capturing a performance is not merely about sensors; it involves support, building trust, and sensitive direction. The video demonstrates how actors must convey emotion on an empty stage devoid of props. Hangar 13 relies on two studios for this process: Brno (Czech Republic) handles systemic animations (NPCs, locomotion), while Petaluma (California) manages narrative sequences where the game’s story takes form. Setting the scene in Sicily during the 1900s means depicting an era when organized crime did not have the modernized appearance shaped by cinema or video games. Here, the mafia is portrayed as a response to poverty, displacement, and social humiliation. The studio aims to use this context to create a dramaturgy centered on emotion, guilt, and loss. Mafia: The Old Country is set for release on August 8th next year, available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
