Mafia Family Business #3

To all friends of the Family, salutamu.

Welcome to the latest installment of Mafia Family Business, a semi-regular spotlight on the Mafia community, the teams that work on the games, and the impressive talents of our fans.

Honoring the Family

We're always pleased to see players showcase the beauty and grit of every Mafia setting, whether via shots taken in Mafia: The Old Country's Photo Mode, captures from other Mafia titles, or eye-catching pieces of fan art. Here are a few of our recent favorites:

psiheyka | Mafia II: Definitive Edition

🔥ǟɦǟ6օʝʟʊᏦ🔥 | Mafia II: Definitive Edition

PepS | Mafia III: Definitive Edition

Meet the Team: Jak Marshall, Senior Data Scientist - Analytics & Insights

Tell us about your role working on the Mafia franchise, and what brought you to 2K.

I guess I would be the (data) consigliere, making sure that the Don and his game-developer capos have the best information they can get to make the game better. I'm not so good with knives, guns, and all that fast driving, so I leave that to the muscle (game designers) and keep myself in the back office. I was originally brought in for Mafia: Definitive Edition, my first console and PC game, and I stuck with the family through the development of Mafia: The Old Country.

How does data science become helpful for story-based titles like Mafia?

You will be thrilled to know that data science doesn't meddle with the mysterious and beautiful craft of storytelling. We have writers for that. It's my job to find anything that gets in the way of that story being told, using data and structured playtesting. If a particular mission is too frustrating or confusing, players might get distracted from Enzo's story or may not even see it through to the end! I'm proud that so many Mafia: The Old Country players have finished the game. I should know, I have the data!

How does data play into creating or fine-tuning features in the games?

When it comes to gameplay features, the best judge of whether we've got those right are real players. So I find them, sit them down in front of development builds, and get them to tell me how the gunplay feels. Does the car handling feel good? What about using cover? You gather enough evidence and start to identify what needs more work. We make changes to the game and then go find more players. Rinse and repeat! My motto is "Always be testing!"

You have our gratitude for being part of the Mafia Family. We look forward to sharing more in future Family Business sitdowns, so be sure to stay connected and continue sharing your creations and appreciation for the series. We'll be seeing you soon, Mafiosi.

The Mafia Community Team