Per Mukherjee, games that respond to colonialism in its multitude of forms are postcolonial texts (518). Taking place in a location with a rich history of colonialism and slavery, ''Mafia III'' fits this mold. Its world is a colonial world. In the bayou area of the map, the player can explore abandoned colonial plantations. Clay even uses one of these plantations as a safehouse for him and his underlings. New Bordeaux contains a French Quarter akin to New Orleans', chock-full of colonial-era architecture and signs. Additionally, as discussed earlier, colonial ideas of race and class persist into the game's current day. Being a postcolonial text, ''Mafia III'' intersects with Mukherjee's ideas of subalternity and identity: Clay and his Black allies are intrinsically subaltern characters. The subaltern, Mukherjee says, is the attempt to view history from "below" (505). Instead of putting users into the shoes of a rich White person, ''Mafia III'' interacts with the subaltern because it tries to re-tell history from a marginalized subject's point-of-view. Clay is, after all, a man who comes from abject poverty, and lives in the underbelly of society.

On the other hand, Clay fits Mukherjee's notion of the "postcolonial subject" because he endures a, "negotiation between his identity as the subaltern as well as one complicit in the activities of the elite." (515) As the story progresses, Clay becomes more and more powerful and creates alliances with numerous powerful ~~Whites~~. In the same way, Clay works with a CIA agent, Donovan, who helps him ~~destroy~~ his mob enemies. At a basic level, too, Clay is half-white and half-Black, and hence struggles with his racial identity. Therefore, ''Mafia III''’s engages with colonialism because, as with the Punjabi character in ''Far Cry 2'', "the player too struggles to figure out his or her identity," when playing as Clay. (515)

On the other hand, Clay fits Mukherjee's notion of the "postcolonial subject" because he endures a, "negotiation between his identity as the subaltern as well as one complicit in the activities of the elite." (515) As the game's story progresses, Clay becomes more and more powerful and creates alliances with numerous powerful players. In the same way, Clay works with a CIA agent, Donovan, who helps him dethrone his mob enemies. At a more basic level, too, Clay is half-white and half-Black, and hence struggles with his racial identity. Therefore, ''Mafia III''’s engages with colonialism because, as with the Punjabi character in ''Far Cry 2'', "the player too struggles to figure out his or her identity," when playing as Clay. (515)

Mukherjee believes that a significant postcolonial aspect of games is their capacity for creating alternate histories. He submits, "the video game...is also a space where alternative history(ies) are made possible. Here, it is possible to reverse the colonial process and conquer the erstwhile imperial powers." (509) ''Mafia III'' generates these possibilities because of its sandbox, open-world design. Put differently, because the game allows players to do what they please in its world, it is ripe for subversion. Players do not have to suffer under racism: they can fight back against racist police officers, react to racist slurs in whatever way they please, or generate income to support the Black communities of Cassandra, the leader of the Haitian mob. These alternate histories exist in the game's linear missions as well. In one quest, Clay must sneak his way through an abandoned amusement park to find a capo. When he catches him, he ties him to a noose and hangs him, directly recalling images of Black lynchings at the hands of white men. Yet this time, the relationship is reversed, proposing a different kind of history. To use Mukherjee's terms, ''Mafia III'' becomes a "thirdspace" where struggle and protest against colonial ideas can take place (509-10).