Mafia 2 returns to Steam after nearly a year off the market

After almost 10 months of unavailability, Mafia 2 will again be available for purchase on Steam, 2K Games announced. The re-release comes in anticipation of this fall's Mafia 3, and the publisher is offering a discount to celebrate.

Mafia 2 and its three downloadable content packs will be 80 percent off until June 8. Although the game and its DLC expansions are set to go live later today, prices are not yet given on the store listing.

2K never explained why Mafia 2 was taken off Steam in the first place, but fans of the series speculated that music licensing costs were the reason for 2K pulling the title. They first noticed the game was no longer up for sale last August, four years after launch. Its predecessor, Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, was similarly removed from the storefront in October 2012; that game is still missing.

On Oct. 7, Mafia 3 will launch on Steam, along with Mac, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. That gives players a full four months to check out the previous game before moving onto its sequel, which is said to tie up many of the loose ends.