Developer 4A Games has officially unveiled its next title in the beloved Metro series, titled Metro 2039. It’s headed to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC later this year.
The series, which is inspired by the bestselling Metro book trilogy by author Dmitry Glukhovsky, has been quiet for a number of years with the last mainline entry being 2019’s Metro Exodus – VR spin-off from Vertigo Games notwithstanding. And in that time, the landscape of politics and war in the studio’s home country of Ukraine has obviously changed significantly, something the team addresses in the reveal showcase for Metro 2039 as it explains that Russia’s illegal invasion sparked a major shift in the team’s goals for their next entry.
“Everything we had planned for the next Metro, changed in 2020, and more significantly in 2022.”
What this means for 2039 is a departure from the narrative tone of earlier titles, which centered around the importance of humanity in the aftermath of apocalyptic events, about how far folks are willing to go to survive when driven underground and to desperation, and about doing everything possible to prevent that desperation from bubbling over into all-out war. This time, war is here, and an authoritarian regime holds the people of the Metro under its boot, flooding the tunnels with propaganda, misinformation and fear.
You can get an idea of all of this in the official Reveal Trailer below, which is mostly made up of cinematics but also includes some allusions to the look and feel of gameplay:
4A Games says Metro 2039 will explore, “The cost of silence, the horrors of tyranny and the price of freedom,” through a voiced protagonist, the Stranger, which is another change from the mostly-silent Artyom of earlier games. The studio promises a handcrafted, story-driven single player campaign with a “much darker tone” as the Stranger makes his reluctant return to The Metro.
“The war has changed us, and we have changed the story to be even more about choices, actions, consequences and what you have to pay to have a future.”
The full reveal showcase is well worth a watch, and particularly eye-opening as the team explains how it’s Kyiv branch has worked through power outages and periods of sheltering caused by rocket and drone attacks. Take a look below:
Metro 2039 comes to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC later in 2026.