Stuck on black screen when launching Mafia: The Old Country? Don't panic, there might be an easy solution

Today, Hangar 13’s next entry in the Mafia series is released, Mafia: The Old Country. In Gamepressure’s review, Maciej Bogusz says it has “an engaging story that’s well worth experiencing.” As users across several platforms are jumping into the game for the first time, there is one thing to know if you’re playing on Steam. As with most modern games, it can be demanding for your computer to run them. But if you see a black screen for a few minutes while launching, you may not need to panic.

A black screen when launching Mafia: The Old Country might not be a reason to panic

Thanks to a very helpful Steam user named Clementine, there might be a good reason Mafia: The Old Country shows a black screen for several minutes when you try to launch it. This will most likely be a more common occurrence on weaker PCs, but it might be worth knowing for anyone playing the game on a computer. According to Clementine: “On slower computers, the game may display a dark screen for a few minutes after launching. Don’t panic, it only loads the shaders once.” So, if you see this black screen, try to be patient. It might sort itself out in a few minutes.

It’s good that this issue doesn’t seem to be a major problem for running the game, but it also seems like an oversight for Hangar 13. A black screen for a few minutes is going to lead many players to think the worst. Most games these days have a bar that slowly fills up to indicate the shaders are loading. It should only happen once, but it’s easy to see why many players would be confused and concerned.

The developer has responded to a few Community Discussions on Steam, thanking Clementine for pointing out this helpful info and responding to other users who might be experiencing the same issue. This could be the kind of thing that is eventually fixed in an update or patch, but for most people, it seems like it will only be encountered when launching the game for the first time.

Mafia: The Old Country

August 7, 2025

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