Mafia II (2010), developed by 2K Czech Studios, is the sequel to Mafia The City of Lost Heaven (2002). Set between the 1940s and the 1950s in the fictional city of Empire Bay, the game follows a gangster and his efforts to climb through the ranks of the Mafia crime families. Born the son of a poor Sicilan immigrant, Vito Scaletta is a beaten down Italo-American who is trying to secure his piece of the American Dream. Looking to escape the life of poverty that consumed his childhood, Vito, along with his childhood friend Joe Barbaro, will descend into the world of organized crime.