The subject of Joe Barbaro's fate has been a matter of some controversy here on the wiki and some recent shenanigans from whoever is in charge of running Mafia Game's Facebook account and Hangar 13's Twitter feed has been hinting that there may be something to his being the guy at the end of the game with Leo Galante.
I want to assure our users that we have nothing against Joe, nor do we want him to be dead, but our policy has always been that we list verifiable facts on our pages. We don't assume, speculate or theorize what may or may not have happened. To put it plainly, if it isn't in the game it doesn't belong here.
Here are the facts as we know them:
- Prior to the release of Mafia III, Hangar 13 Creative Director/Studio Head Haden Blackman was questioned in multiple interviews if the game would settle what happened to Joe Barbaro. On every instance he stated that the game would definitely reveal what happened to Joe if the player worked with Vito, (presumably doing his side mission). While that is just a paraphrase of his replies, I'm aware of no time in which he strayed from that general answer.
- As we all know the mission I Need a Favor is where Vito reveals that Joe was killed, however a small shred of doubt is added when Lincoln asks if he is sure it was Joe who was killed, to which Vito replies "if it wasn't him, if Joe was still alive, he would have found me by now." That statement ends the scene, so if we're to take Haden Blackman at his word as mentioned above, then Joe must be dead.
- Some time after Mafia III's release the theory was put forward that a man resembling Joe Barbaro can be seen in the cutscene at the end of Yet Here We Are, admittedly there is a resemblance and the camera does pause on him momentarily at the end, but nothing is given in the scene or anywhere else to substantiate that claim.
- At this point I should point out that the cutscene in question plays the same regardless of the player having done Vito's side mission or whether or not Vito is still alive in the game. If this is in fact Joe, it would contradict what Haden Blackman said in interviews, being that the player would have to work with Vito and do his side missions to find out what happened to Joe.
- In early November Hanger 13's Twitter feed began making cryptic replies when Joe Barbao's fate was mentioned. In regard to his fate, they would reply "Have you beaten the game yet?" In another reply they said "You sure you didn't recognize anyone from Lincoln's talk with Leo Galante?"
- In a recent post on both Facebook and Twitter, Mafia Game posted an info-graphic of all crime families in the Mafia Series. (Seen here.) This graphic listed Joe Barbaro's fate as "Unknown". To those who posted replies questioning that, Mafia Game's only reply was "Have you beaten the game yet?" We've been discussing the veracity of this graphic in this thread - Thread:29891. To put it briefly, it's accuracy has been torn to shreds and is in serious doubt. I should also point out that they didn't mention where they got the graphic (it could have been made by some fan for all we know) or if they consider it an official canon statement of facts for the series. We're also unaware who is responsible for those social media accounts and if they're authorized to even make that call.
This brings us up to date and poses the question of what we should list on Joe's page in regard to his fate. Even if we do take these social media posts into account, they're not actually stating that Joe is, in fact, alive. They seem to be hinting at that, but we have no idea why or their motivation for doing so. They could simply be trying to stir up publicity for the game in order to boost their low sales and rating numbers, possibly planning to bring Joe into one of the DLCs. There's really no telling at this point.
At this time I don't see any facts stating that Joe is alive or him being Leo Galante's driver. However, I think enough doubt is present in Vito's statement of "if it wasn't him, if Joe was still alive, he would have found me by now." to list it as unknown. If there is agreement on this, his page can be carefully worded to reflect that. If anyone has alternative opinion, feel free to post that as well.