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Metro 2039 arrives after the longest gap between releases in the Metro series, about eight years from Metro Exodus in 2019 to a February 2027 launch. During those years, 4A Games navigated the consequences of the war in Ukraine, which fundamentally affected both how the game was made and what it chose to be about.
4A Games: The Studio
4A Games was founded in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2005 and remains a majority-Ukrainian studio. It is now headquartered in Malta while the majority of the development team stays in Ukraine, and the studio describes itself as having over 200 team members drawn from many countries. The studio developed the Metro series from its origins, building and refining the proprietary 4A Engine that powers each installment. Deep Silver has served as the publisher for the studio's Metro releases. The project is led by creative director Andriy Shevchenko, with Jon Bloch as executive producer and Pawel Ulmer as co-creative director and lead audio designer.
The Impact of War on Development
The war in Ukraine had a direct and serious impact on the development of Metro 2039. The studio's Kyiv team experienced power outages, disruptions to daily life, and the dispersal of staff members who had to relocate or respond to the conflict. These conditions made development harder and slower than it might otherwise have been, and they contributed to the unusually long gap between Metro Exodus and Metro 2039.
More significantly, the experience of the war reshaped what the game wanted to say. 4A Games has spoken openly about how living through a conflict driven by propaganda, authoritarian aggression, and the silencing of dissent gave the team a direct personal connection to the themes they chose to explore in Metro 2039. The Novoreich, the game's fascist-styled antagonist regime, and the themes of the cost of silence and the horrors of tyranny are not abstract choices but ideas the developers have lived with.
Development Timeline
Date | Event |
|---|---|
February 2019 | Metro Exodus released; the previous Metro entry by 4A Games |
April 2026 | Metro 2039 announced and revealed during an Xbox First Look broadcast on April 16 |
June 2026 | First gameplay trailer shown; the release window is narrowed to February 2027 |
August 2026 | A further trailer due at Gamescom Opening Night Live on 25 August; playable to the public for the first time at Gamescom 2026 in Cologne from 27 to 30 August |
February 2027 | Planned release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC |
The Reveal
Metro 2039 was publicly unveiled in April 2026, revealed during an Xbox First Look broadcast on April 16. The reveal combined a cinematic trailer with an early gameplay tease and was accompanied by a set of screenshots, introducing the game's direction and the themes that shaped it. Audience interest was strong from the moment of the reveal: the game passed 1 million wishlists on Steam within two weeks, a figure 4A Games announced itself at the start of May 2026. The publisher's parent group later reported that the game reached that milestone faster than any title in its history, and that wishlists have continued to grow ahead of expectation. That reflected both the established audience of the Metro series and the anticipation built by the presentation.
In June 2026, 4A Games followed the reveal with the game's first gameplay trailer. The trailer showed extended in-game footage and narrowed the release window from a broad winter window to February 2027.
The next step is a public one. Metro 2039 will be playable for the first time at Gamescom 2026 in Cologne from 27 to 30 August, where Deep Silver is running its own booth with hands-on stations in Hall 9.1, and it is playable at the Xbox booth in Hall 7 as well. The studio has also said the game will feature in the Gamescom Opening Night Live broadcast on 25 August at 8PM CEST, where a further trailer is due to be shown.
Writing and Collaboration
The story of Metro 2039 was co-written with Dmitry Glukhovsky, the author whose Metro novels form the literary foundation of the series. 4A Games has positioned the game as an original narrative set in the same universe rather than an adaptation of any specific book, so the collaboration keeps the tone and world consistent while leaving the studio free to tell a new story. The studio has framed Metro 2039 as the darkest chapter in the series so far, a tonal goal shaped by both the source material and the team's own experience of the war.
Technology
Metro 2039 runs on the proprietary 4A Engine, the same engine family that has powered the Metro series throughout its history and that 4A Games has refined over more than a decade of development. Having been early adopters of ray tracing on Metro Exodus, the studio has rebuilt its implementation of the technology for Metro 2039, aiming for a more tuned and performant result while targeting current-generation consoles, specifically the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. PC players will also benefit from the engine's technical capabilities through the PC release on Steam and the Epic Games Store. The engine continues to support the series' hallmark systems, including the diegetic interface, weapon maintenance, and the survival mechanics tied to the gas mask and its filters.