Analyst Michael Pachter stated that because of the long development cycle, repeated delays and because of mixed reviews in the initial few days the 2K Czech developed and Take Two published Mafia II was set to be a disappointment, selling below the level needed to recoup its costs.

But the publisher of the gangster themed action game disagreed with that assertion, saying during a recent report on the financial results of the company that Mafia II had a great launch and will manage to sell well in the future.

Ben Feder, who is the Chief Executive Officer at Take Two, has said that, “We're very proud of the game” while also talking about 2K Czech as being an “extremely talented studio.”

The CEO is confident that the sales numbers for the video game will be good, adding, “based upon the initial launch, we expect this to be another profitable title for Take-Two.”

Take Two has long been seen as being a publisher that is dependent on the Grand Theft Auto series to make a profit and the company has long been searching for another franchise that could fill in the gaps.

Recently in the year Take Two and Rockstar collaborated on Red Dead Redemption, a Western based open world game that had great gunplay, large vistas and an interesting protagonist in John Marston.

The video game managed to capture the top spot in the NPD Group software charts for North America in both May and June and is still selling well, with the developers preparing to put out another DLC pack, called Liars and Cheats, that focuses on delivering more content for the multiplayer.

Mafia II will probably not managed to perform as well at retail, mainly because of the tougher climate the game launched in, facing competition from titles like Madden NFL 11 and Starcraft II.