Metro series author Dmitry Glukhovsky says the next game will be the series’ darkest entry to date. Fans have been waiting for a new title in the post-apocalyptic shooter franchise for a long time, and thanks to a leak and subsequent official confirmation, they now know they’re finally getting that wish. Anyone big on the dark and gritty overtones of Metro may be in for a particular treat.
Following a leak that suggested news was on the way, Xbox has officially announced Metro 2039 is real and will be revealed at the Xbox First Look event on April 16. Like the most recent entries in the series, 2039 is the work of 4A Games and will be published by Deep Silver, but beyond that, there aren’t many specifics out about the game. A brief description of the initial teaser says it will see players venture into “the dark heart of post-apocalyptic Moscow,” and now the man behind the games’ source material has confirmed that this will take the series to new depths.
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Metro Author Says 2039 Will Be the Darkest Metro Game Yet
After Metro 2039‘s teaser debuted, Glukhovsky took to Twitter to announce it would be “darker than anything” players had seen before. That may be a big promise, but it’s also one that makes sense in light of where the series is coming from. 4A Games was founded in Ukraine, and the Metro franchise, in both the games and the books, deals with strong anti-war themes in a Russian setting, so the Russo-Ukranian war that began in 2014 and escalated in the 2020s, has heavily impacted and influenced the series. This political backdrop has intensified since the last game, with Russia calling for Glukhovsky’s arrest in 2022 after he repeatedly spoke out against the war and the Russian government.
Considering how the geopolitical environment shaping the Metro series has evolved since 2019’s Metro Exodus, it makes sense that the next game will be all the darker and more intense. Even before 4A unveiled 2039, it had teased that it was working on something along those lines. On the series’ 15th anniversary, 4A confirmed the next Metro game would double down on its political themes, with developers drawing on their lived experience through the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. With the games now venturing beyond their original source material, Metro 2039 is taking even more inspiration from the real world, promising to give fans a grittier, more serious experience than previously explored.
Claiming the next Metro game will be the darkest yet is no small statement. The games have never been afraid to pull punches, and Metro Exodus is famous for its horrifying open world, so leaning further into this side of the world could make for a riveting experience. Of course, with no actual gameplay footage or specific details to go on, it’s unclear what exactly that will entail. Calling something “darker than anything you’ve seen” is also a fairly subjective statement, so how much Metro 2039 will live up to that description will be up to the individual player.
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Regardless of what the game has in store, longtime fans finally have something concrete to look forward to. While Metro Awakening was one of the best VR games of 2024, the Metro series hasn’t gotten a non-VR release since 2019. It’s uncertain how long the wait will be until Metro 2039 comes out, but the ball is at least in motion, and there seems to be a lot to get excited about.
