Up for a next-gen Mafia game?

It looks like open world crime game Mafia 3 is set in Louisiana.

AllGamesBeta published an image of a casting call for an untitled video game in production by Take-Two, the parent company of Mafia publisher 2K Games. It called for actors to be used for voice over, motion capture and facial scans, and mentioned three characters - all born in Louisiana.

Characters mentioned were Franklin, Tony and Mickey. Franklin is in his early 20s and "knows how to get a job done at any cost". Tony is in his early 30s and is described as "a genius with numbers and statistics who runs sports betting operations". Tony is "not your typical gangster," the description continues.

And Mickey is in his late teens, a young street hustler who "likes to run his mouth". "Mickey has a bad habit of taking credit for bigger jobs and making himself seem higher up in the criminal ladder than he really is. When confronted with this, he reverts back to the scared teenager he really is."

While there is no specific mention of it, if Mafia 3 is set in Louisiana, the game may feature an open world New Orleans.

Mafia 3 was thought to have been in development for some time at 2K Czech, where the previous games were made. But recent troubles at the studio suggest 2K has rebooted development.

In January, 2K said it had "relocated and consolidated" its 2K Czech team at Prague to Brno, and had transferred "some development resources" from Prague and Brno to 2K's California studio in Novato. This resulted in lay offs at 2K Czech.

The current thinking is that Mafia 3 is in production at 2K's California studio. Rod Fergusson, who had joined 2K following a stint helping Irrational finish BioShock Infinite, might have been working on the game - but he isn't now. He joined Microsoft to work on the new Gears of War game at Black Tusk.

The casting call was published on 6th March, suggesting it may be some time before we see the new, next-generation Mafia 3. 2K Games declined to comment when contacted by Eurogamer.