Mafia: The Old Country

Mafia: The Old Country is the cinematic prequel to the Mafia series, set in 1900s Sicily. I joined as Lead UX Designer after TopSpin 2K25, moving from sports UI to a story-led journey where the interface had to stay out of the way.

A premium, cinematic game where every prompt, pop-up and HUD element risks breaking the film. Players still need to learn knife fights, stealth, horses, cars and an RPG-like progression system.

I led the UX team on the boot flow, menus, HUD, tutorials, hints, shops and game modes, working closely with Mission Design on when and how players learn each mechanic.

• Built a two-tier tutorial system with Mission Design: Simple Tutorials deliver one or two lines in context without breaking immersion, Complex Tutorials use multi-page lessons with custom visuals for deeper systems.
• Designed one list-and-detail system for shops, garages, stables and the Charms box, with component variations for knife categories, firearm stats and horse acceleration.
• Turned progression into story. Instead of a skill tree, players equip a rosary and customise each bead for a saint's protection: the Charms system.
• Created a Hint system that can surface newly unlocked content or step in with advice after repeated failure.
• Kept the HUD to the minimum each moment needs, with dedicated minigame HUDs for struggles and safe-cracking.
• Owned the game's list of haptic and sound feedback as part of my lead role, deciding with the audio team when players should feel and hear each action, alert and reward.
• Worked with the audio team on accessibility beyond the menus, including audio cues, controller vibration, colour-blind support and HUD options.
• Designed the new-game setup so players choose accessibility and comfort options before they start: subtitle size, aim assist, controller vibration, inverted controls and skipping long drives and rides, each with a live preview.
• Owned Photo Mode and Cinema Siciliano, a black-and-white mode inspired by classic film, and the HUDs for Time Trials and Races in the Free Ride update.

Launched on 8 August 2025 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S and sold more than 800,000 copies in its first week, according to Sensor Tower. It scored 80 on OpenCritic, with critics praising its story. The Free Ride update and the Man of Honor expansion followed, both built on the same UX framework.

Reusing one strong system takes a team a long way, but some features need to be invented from scratch. Charms worked because we designed them for the story first.