What every game dev can learn from Mafia The Old Country's 'no swimming' controversy

Mafia: The Old Country, the latest entry in Hangar 13's action-adventure game series, has won some solid reviews, but it's also revived an old debate. Some players think a key feature is missing: they can't take Enzo Favara swimming.

The game is set on the island of Sicily, and there are some beautiful coastal environments that feel like they would be great to dive into. But swimming isn't really possible. If you jump into deep water, Enzo will swim rather than teleport back to shore, but it's not possible to take him into the water from the shore.

Some players are expressing disappointment, but that raises questions. Would swimming really make the game any better? And why do gamers care so much about swimming, anyway? (see our guide to the best game development software if you want to make the swimming game that players are yearning for).

"This could literally be a game from 10 years ago. Shame on game devs," one person wrote on X. "Not having swimming physics in 2025 is just lazy," another person wrote.

But is it really? If it's not part of the game's story, why add swimming mechanics with all the expense that entails? Mafia: The Old Country is a linear, narrative adventure not an immersive open-world sim. The environment is there to provide a credible setting but isn't intended to be explored beyond the needs of the game's objectives – and there are no missions that require swimming.

Michael Douse, a publishing director at Larian Studios, has weighed into the debate on X making the very valid point that adding unnecessary mechanics doesn't make a good video game.

"This reminds me of when we showed BG3 to someone (exec or whatever) – a wealth of mechanics – and with zero emotion he just goes 'can you swim in the game?' Like bro, this isn't mechanical whack-a-mole, endlessly layering on mechanics maketh a good game not," he writes.

Michael goes on to explain how every mechanic adds to the cost of a game, both in terms of money and time. He mentions day-night cycles as another classic example that comes up. These things eat up resources that could be better spent on things that are actually important to the game itself.

"The realities of game design are such that each feature has a cost," he writes. "Manpower-> time-> budget. 'Why not just[...]' can set a producer on fire. Try it, it's funny. Better to not swim if you're not going to do anything with it, than to add it simply to have it."

Many devs agree and would rather spend their time on necessary features. "Being able to swim in games was a breakthrough in 2006 but I think we can leave it behind unless needed," one person suggests.

"Every new game feature should have to answer the question 'will this help make the game more fun than GoldenEye?,' another person writes. "You can't swim in GoldenEye. The water doesn't care when you shoot it. You can't even jump or run. Yet it's way more fun than any of these games."

But opinions are divided. "Games look so realistic now, they naturally invite this question," one person argues. "Plus, there's the fact games like Mario 64 – just like Super Mario Bros before it – set the standard for what you should be able to do movement-wise in a video game."

And if Mario 64 had it in 1996, surely any game in 2025 should have swimming... right? On the one hand, underwater scenes have a visual appeal that's great for marketing. That can be seen going all the way back to arcade games (anyone else remember the fun of wielding a harpoon in Sly Spy?). But in 3D games that do have swimming sequences, from God of War to GTA, players have often complained about the controls and general lack of enjoyability in the mechanics.

The lesson for game devs? Adding mechanics for the sake of it doesn't make a game better.... but on the other hand, there's something about the mysterious call of the ocean that makes people really, really want to be able to jump in and swim in games, even if the experience is often disappointing.

For more of the week' gaming news, check the uniquely artistic bullet hell shooter ZOE Begone! plus the most interesting games from the latest Nintendo Indie World Showcase. We're also intrigued by Nintendo's idea for Switch 2 Joy-Cons with a hand crank.