Empire Bay is a mood. Honestly, it’s one of the few open worlds from that era that actually feels lived-in, even if you can’t enter every building. But if you’re like me, you aren't just there for the 1950s aesthetic or the smooth jazz on the radio. You're hunting. Specifically, you're looking for those 50 vintage collectibles scattered across the city. Finding every Mafia 2 Playboy magazine location is basically a rite of passage for completionists, but it's also a total pain because most of them are missable.
If you finish a chapter without grabbing the mags inside a specific mission area, they're gone. You have to reload the whole chapter. That sucks.
Most people think these are just random collectibles. They aren't. They are tied directly to the narrative flow of Vito Scaletta’s rise and fall. Unlike the Wanted Posters, which are scattered in the open world, these magazines are almost entirely tucked away inside interiors you only visit once. You've got to be methodical. If you rush through a shootout in a warehouse, you’re definitely walking past a piece of history.
Why the Chapter System Changes Everything
You can't just drive around and collect these at your leisure. Mafia 2 isn't Grand Theft Auto. It’s a linear story told in an open space. This means your search for a Mafia 2 Playboy magazine location is dictated by the clock.
Chapter 2 is where it starts. You’re back from the war, freezing your tail off in Little Italy. There are two magazines here. One is sitting right on Joe’s coffee table. Easy, right? The second one is at Mike Bruski’s Scrapyard. It's inside the small office on a shelf. If you trigger the cutscene to end the mission before grabbing it, you're replaying the whole intro. It’s that strict.
The Mid-Game Difficulty Spike
By the time you hit Chapter 7 and 8, the game starts throwing more enemies at you. It’s easy to get distracted by the Tommy Gun fire. In Chapter 7, "In Loving Memory," you’ll find one in the hallway of the apartment building near the top floor. It’s just sitting there on the floor. It feels random, but it's deliberate.
Then there’s Chapter 10. "Room Service." This is the big hotel job.
There are four magazines here. One is on a desk in the conference room. Another is on the floor near the elevators after the explosion. If you’re sprinting for your life because the cops are swarming the lobby, you will miss it. I've done it. Everyone has. You have to balance the urge to survive with the urge to check every corner of a burning building. Sorta crazy when you think about it.
The Ones Everyone Misses
There are a few locations that are notorious for being overlooked.
In Chapter 11, when you’re at Leo’s mansion, there’s one in the bathroom. Most players are focused on helping Leo escape or hiding from Henry. Checking the hamper for a magazine isn't exactly top of mind when you’re trying not to get murdered by the mob.
Chapter 14 is another nightmare. "Stairway to Heaven."
You’re at the construction site. It’s a vertical level with multiple floors and snipers everywhere. One magazine is tucked behind a wall on the top floor, near where you fight the boss. Another is at the very bottom of the stairs in a corner that serves no gameplay purpose. You literally have to go out of your way to find these. It’s classic 2K Games design—rewarding the player for exploring places that look like dead ends.
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Evolution of the Hunt
Back when the game first launched in 2010, the community had to piece these locations together on forums. Now, with the Mafia II: Definitive Edition, the locations haven't changed, but the visuals have. It’s actually slightly easier to spot the glow of the collectible in the remastered lighting.
Notable Locations by Chapter:
- Chapter 3: Check the floor of the office in the Federal Price Administration building. Also, don't miss the one in the basement where the guards are playing cards.
- Chapter 5: Inside the distillery. There’s one on a small office desk near the top floor. If the building starts blowing up, you’ve gone too far.
- Chapter 9: In the slaughterhouse. It’s gross, it’s muddy, and there’s a magazine next to a pile of meat scraps.
- Chapter 15: The final showdown at the observatory. There are two here. One is near the telescope, and the other is in the stairwell leading to the roof.
Don't Forget the DLC
If you’re playing the Joes’s Adventures or The Betrayal of Jimmy, the magazine hunt continues. These aren't the same 50 from the main story. They are separate. The locations in the DLC tend to be more "open world" style. You’ll find them in garages, behind diners, and in alleyways.
Honestly, the main game’s magazines are more iconic. They represent a specific era of American culture that the developers wanted to preserve. It’s weirdly immersive. You’re playing a gritty crime drama, but you’re also engaging in a scavenger hunt for 1950s media.
Strategy for a Perfect Run
The best way to do this is to keep a mental map of the "point of no return" in each mission. Usually, this is a cutscene where Vito enters a car or walks through a door that locks behind him.
Before you interact with any objective marker—the green circles on your map—sweep the room. Look behind bars. Look under desks.
If you miss one, don't panic. You can go to the "Chapter Select" menu from the main screen. You can jump back into any completed chapter, grab the missing mag, and then quit. The game saves the collectible the moment you pick it up. You don't actually have to finish the mission again. That is a lifesaver.
Actionable Steps for Completionists:
- Prioritize Chapter 2 and 3: These are low-stress levels where you can learn the "visual language" of where developers hide things.
- Use Chapter Select: If your stats show 49/50, check the gallery. The gallery shows you exactly which numbers you are missing. Match those numbers to a chronological list to see which chapter you need to revisit.
- Check the "Definitive Edition" Bugs: Sometimes, in the remaster, a magazine might not spawn if you’ve used a "rest mode" feature on your console. If a magazine isn't where it should be, restart the checkpoint. It usually pops right back in.
- Explore the Perimeters: In the big shootouts (like the brewery or the foundry), the magazines are almost always on the edges of the room, never in the middle of the cover spots.
The hunt for every Mafia 2 Playboy magazine location is ultimately about seeing the parts of Empire Bay that the story doesn't force you to see. It’s a way to appreciate the level design. It turns a standard third-person shooter into a bit of an investigation game. Just remember to grab the one in the jail during Chapter 6—that’s the one that trips everyone up because you can’t go back there once you’re released. Happy hunting.