Metro 2039
Metro 2039 is a single-player shooter developed by 4A Games and published by Deep Silver, due on Feb 4, 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.[^1][^3] Set in Moscow in 2039, it casts the player as the Stranger, a former Spartan, against Hunter, whose Novoreich regime has united the survivors of the Metro.[^1][^2] As of Nov 7, 2026 the game is not out: it was revealed on Apr 16, 2026 and has so far been played only in previews of a pre-release build.[^6][^14]
Out on the surface Over footage of the pre-release build supplied by the publisher, GameSpot's previewer explains that the surface areas are much smaller than Metro Exodus's open levels, but leave room to search buildings for ammunition caches, puzzles and small stories told by the surroundings.
- Publisher
- Deep Silver[3]
- Release
- Feb 4, 2027 (Feb 5, 2027 in some territories, including Asia, Australia and New Zealand)[1][2]
- Platforms
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox on PC)[1]
- Protagonist
- The Stranger, a former Spartan[2]
- Story
- Original, written with Dmitry Glukhovsky[1]
- Price
- $69.99 Standard, $99.99 Deluxe (Xbox Store, Nov 7, 2026)[4]
Overview
Metro 2039 is the next main game in the Metro series of post-apocalyptic shooters, which began with Metro 2033 in 2010 and continued with Metro: Last Light in 2013 and Metro Exodus in 2019.[1][7][21][22][23] It is developed by 4A Games, a studio founded in Kyiv in 2005, and published by Deep Silver.[26][3] The game is a single-player campaign led by its story, in which exploration, survival, combat and stealth are woven together.[1] It is due on Feb 4, 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC through Steam, the Epic Games Store and Xbox on PC, on every platform the same day.[1] The PlayStation Blog notes that some territories, including Asia, Australia and New Zealand, get it a day later, on Feb 5, 2027.[2] As of Nov 7, 2026 the game has not been released, and what is known of it comes from trailers, developer interviews and previews of a pre-release build played in August 2026.[6][14][15]
Out on the surface Over footage of the pre-release build supplied by the publisher, GameSpot's previewer explains that the surface areas are much smaller than Metro Exodus's open levels, but leave room to search buildings for ammunition caches, puzzles and small stories told by the surroundings.
Setting and story
The game is set in Moscow in 2039, where the last survivors of a nuclear war have spent about 25 years fighting one another in the Metro tunnels beneath the irradiated city.[1] They are now united behind one leader, Hunter, a fanatical Spartan whose regime, the Novoreich, rules through propaganda and fear and is preparing a war to take back the surface.[1] Hunter holds the title of Fuhrer, and his regime lives by his old rule, "if it's hostile, you kill it."[7] The player character is the Stranger, a recluse haunted by violent nightmares, who is pulled out of exile and back into a Metro he had sworn never to enter again.[1] The plot is not adapted from any of the novels: it is an original story written with their author, Dmitry Glukhovsky.[1] 4A Games names its themes as the cost of silence, the horrors of tyranny and the price of freedom.[16] Executive producer Jon Bloch has said the earlier stories were more about hope and about preventing war.[15]
A Metro without hope GameSpot's previewer sums up the premise: years after Metro Exodus, the departure of Artyom and the other Spartans has left a power vacuum, a fascist faction has taken over the Metro, and none of the third game's optimism is left.
Characters
The Stranger is a former Spartan warrior with a dark past who never wanted to go back to the Metro he had left.[2] Xbox Wire calls him the series' first fully voiced lead protagonist.[6] His enemy is Hunter, whom Deep Silver introduced in June 2026 as the first Spartan himself.[8] In the Hunter trailer, his image looks down on the Metro from crumbling posters, flickering propaganda and towering statues, dressed in a fascist version of Spartan armor, under the tagline "Protect the Metro, from you."[8] At Gamescom in August 2026 the Stranger's home came into view: Sevastopolskaya, a proudly independent station on the brink of a hostile takeover, weakened from within by agitators, propaganda and alcohol and pressed from outside by raiders the Novoreich backs.[10] It is where he gathers information before setting out.[10] The same trailer gave him the line "The Spartans were wolves in helmets. But I'm something worse."[10] It closed with the voices of the Dark Ones joining the Fuhrer's chant, a link Deep Silver left unexplained.[10]
The first voiced lead TmarTn2, playing a mission from about halfway through the pre-release build, points out that the Stranger is the series' first fully voiced protagonist, talking to other characters at the gunsmith and in cutscenes, and that the mission has him looking for Hunter.
Hunter, only teased IGN's previewer takes a scoped rifle to a nest of Novoreich soldiers and notes that Hunter, their Fuhrer, was only teased in the demo he played, too little to judge him as a villain.
Gameplay
Metro 2039 keeps the series' survival design. The time left on the gas mask's filter is shown on a digital watch the player has to look at, with beeps as a backup when it runs low; there is no crosshair, only iron sights and optics crafted onto the guns; and the map is a physical folio with the objectives written by hand on its back.[14] The signature weapon is the Shatun, a heavy pneumatic rifle that has to be kept pressurized to keep its force.[10] New tools open up the levels: a breaching tool breaks weak walls to reach side routes, a cutting torch opens welded doors, and an ultraviolet light reveals hidden mutants, drives off a new flying creature called the Insectalis and lights up codes for puzzles.[10] The pre-order bonus shows the crafting at work: blueprints for three backpack pouches, worn one at a time, for faster crafting, more filters or rarer ammunition.[5] 4A Games has confirmed that the series' hidden karma system returns, while GamesRadar+ reported that the moral grayness of the earlier games is gone.[28] Mutants now hunt in coordinated family groups.[15]
Crafting in Sevastopolskaya In jackfrags's preview of the pre-release build, he walks through the station's settlement, crafts filters, bandages and medkits from his bag, upgrades weapons, and meets the station chief, who sends him to learn about a local gang leader paid by the Novoreich before he climbs the escalator to the surface.
Development and reveal
4A Games confirmed in November 2020 that it was working on a new single-player Metro for the new generation of consoles and PC.[24] In February 2025 the studio said it was still making the next Metro with Glukhovsky, and that roughly 150 of its more than 200 staff worked in Ukraine.[25] The game was revealed as Metro 2039 at an Xbox First Look broadcast on Apr 16, 2026, with a trailer that opened inside one of the Stranger's nightmares and a release planned for that winter.[6][7] Deep Silver announced 1 million wishlists by May 5, 2026.[18] A gameplay trailer at the Xbox Games Showcase on Jun 7, 2026, nearly three minutes of footage captured in the game, introduced Hunter and set the window as February 2027.[8][9] The Renegade trailer followed at Gamescom Opening Night Live in August.[12] Sony's State of Play on Sep 3, 2026 showed the first console footage, captured on PlayStation 5 Pro, and named the day.[2] Bloch has said that every environment is handmade, with nothing prefabricated.[6]
Due in February 2027 Before the exact day was announced, TmarTn2 gives the window as February 2027 on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Steam and Epic, remarks how long it has been since the last Metro game, and says his mission comes from about halfway through.
Made during the war in Ukraine
4A Games was founded in Kyiv and moved its headquarters to Malta in 2014, but most of its team still works from the Kyiv office or remotely across Ukraine.[26][16] In its letter at the reveal, the studio described running on generators and batteries through daily power cuts and taking shelter from rocket and drone attacks.[16] Bloch has said the team had to change its approach after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[15] The studio says the game's focus moved to consequences, where the earlier stories had dealt with hope and with preventing war.[16][15] Glukhovsky, an outspoken critic of the invasion, lives in exile from Russia and worked on the story from there.[16][1] On Aug 7, 2023, Moscow's Basmanny district court sentenced him to eight years in prison for "discrediting" the Russian military in online posts that criticized the war.[17]
Making a game in a war zone In FGS's interview, a 4A Games developer describes power cuts and rocket and drone attacks that send staff to shelters at any hour and make the schedule hard to keep, and then says the story changed completely when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Release, editions and platforms
Pre-orders opened on Oct 13, 2026.[5] On the Xbox Store the Standard Edition costs $69.99 and the Deluxe Edition $99.99, as of Nov 7, 2026.[4] The digital Deluxe Edition adds a Story Expansion due in 2027, the soundtrack and a digital art book; the physical Deluxe Edition adds a Steelbook case and a printed art book; and a limited Collector's Edition, sold through selected retailers, includes a wearable replica Spartan helmet.[5] Every pre-order comes with the Specialist Pack, and owners of a qualifying digital Metro game get 10% off the Digital Deluxe Edition.[5][3] A 60 frames per second performance mode with ray tracing is promised at launch on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Pro and Xbox Series X.[11] On Xbox the game is part of Xbox Play Anywhere and is also offered through the cloud.[9] It is not coming to PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.[1] Steam lists 15 languages, Ukrainian among them with full audio; Russian is not listed.[3] The ESRB rates it Mature 17+.[4]
Previews
The first hands-on sessions came at Gamescom 2026, where more than 5,000 visitors played a demo.[13] Metro 2039 was nominated more often than any other title at that year's Gamescom Award and won Best Visuals.[12] Deep Silver said the early previews from Digital Foundry, IGN and Screen Rant were positive.[12] The same week brought the first look at the Collector's Edition's wearable Spartan helmet and the premiere of the Renegade trailer.[12] Xbox Wire's editor, after two hours of combat and exploration, praised its tense, open-ended exploration and fighting.[14] These were impressions of an unfinished game, not reviews, and no review scores exist before release.[14][1] For comparison, the earlier main games scored in the low 80s on Metacritic for PC: 81 for Metro 2033, 82 for Metro: Last Light and 82 for Metro Exodus.[21][22][23]
"Might just be peak Metro" GameSpot's previewer says he played about three hours of a demo set halfway through the game, streamed over Nvidia's GeForce Now, that the footage shown is publisher-supplied B-roll, and that if the rest holds up Metro 2039 might be peak Metro.
The Metro series
The series began with Glukhovsky's novel Metro 2033, which he first published free online in 2002 and which drew more than 2 million readers before a print edition went on sale in Russia in 2005.[27] 4A Games found the online text, and its creative lead contacted him after reading it overnight.[27] The game Metro 2033 came out on Mar 16, 2010, published by THQ; Deep Silver published Metro: Last Light on May 13, 2013 and Metro Exodus on Feb 15, 2019.[21][22][23] Deep Silver says the Metro games have sold 50 million copies worldwide, and Metro Exodus alone had passed 10 million by February 2024.[19][20] Ahead of Metro 2039, Metro 2033 Redux and Metro: Last Light Redux received a free next-generation update on PC on Oct 22, 2026 and on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on Oct 29, 2026.[19][29]
- Metro 2033, 4A Games' first Metro game, is released by THQ.[21]
- 4A Games confirms a new single-player Metro for new consoles and PC.[24]
- 4A Games says it is still making the next Metro with Dmitry Glukhovsky.[25]
- Metro 2039 is revealed at the Xbox First Look for that winter.[6]
- Deep Silver announces 1 million wishlists.[18]
- The Hunter gameplay trailer at the Xbox Games Showcase sets February 2027.[8]
- The Renegade trailer premieres at Gamescom Opening Night Live; the game later wins Best Visuals at the Gamescom Award.[10][12]
- Sony's State of Play shows PlayStation 5 Pro gameplay and names Feb 4, 2027.[2]
- Pre-orders open on every platform.[5]
- Scheduled release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.[1]
What we think
This section is Heartipedia’s own opinion, not sourced fact. Each view is reasoned from the facts cited above and from trends we see; it may turn out wrong. A prediction’s words are never changed once made: when the facts are known we add the result under it, right or wrong. Every prediction we have made.
Metro 2039 ships on Feb 4, 2027 with no further delay
We expect Metro 2039 to come out on Feb 4, 2027 on every announced platform at once, on the date Sony's State of Play announced. We think the one thing that could still move it is the war around the studio's Kyiv office, not the state of the game.
Why: The date was named on Sep 3, 2026, pre-orders opened on Oct 13, a Collector's Edition is on sale and Deep Silver has already promised a 60 frames per second ray-traced mode on three consoles. Press played a long slice of the game in August 2026, and Gamescom visitors played a demo. The studio's own letter describes daily power cuts and air raid shelters, which is the risk no schedule can price in.
The Story Expansion follows someone other than the Stranger
We expect the 2027 Story Expansion sold with the Deluxe Edition to be a self-contained chapter led by a different character, not more of the Stranger's own story. We think it tells the Novoreich's rise, or a Sevastopolskaya story, from the side of someone who lived through it.
Why: Metro Exodus's story add-ons were built this way, and Metro 2039's world has a ready second point of view: a regime that united almost the whole Metro under Hunter and a proud independent station on the brink of being taken over. The expansion has no name, date or description beyond 2027, which leaves room for a new lead.
Artyom is heard, not seen
We expect Artyom, the hero of the first three games, to reach Metro 2039 only as a voice, on the radio or in a recording from outside Moscow, and never to appear in person.
Why: The game is set years after Artyom and the Spartans left the Metro at the start of Metro Exodus, and previewers describe the power vacuum their departure left. The makers present Metro 2039 as a new story with a new lead and cast that newcomers can start with, which rules out a returning hero at its center. A voice from outside would remind the people left behind that the Spartans found a world beyond the city, without taking the story from the Stranger.
The good ending spares Hunter
We expect Metro 2039 to keep two endings chosen by its hidden karma system, and we expect the better one to end with the Stranger turning Hunter back from what he has become rather than killing him.
Why: 4A Games confirmed the hidden karma system returns. Hunter was the first Spartan, and the Stranger is a former Spartan whose dark past drives him back into the Metro, which makes their meeting a reckoning between comrades. The Gamescom trailer ended with the Dark Ones joining the Fuhrer's chant, and the series' better endings have turned on understanding an enemy rather than destroying it.
The best-reviewed Metro yet
We expect Metro 2039 to reach a PC Metascore of at least 85 on Metacritic, above every earlier main Metro game.
Why: Metro 2033 scored 81 on PC, and Metro: Last Light and Metro Exodus 82 each. Metro 2039 won Best Visuals at the Gamescom Award after more nominations than any other game there, and Deep Silver reported positive previews from Digital Foundry, IGN and Screen Rant.
Going back to the tunnels is the right call
We think the move away from Metro Exodus's large open levels is Metro 2039's best decision. We think Metro is at its best in the dark, counting filter time on a watch and bullets in a pouch, with the surface as a dangerous place to visit rather than a place to roam.
Why: Previewers describe surface areas much smaller than Exodus's, but with enough room to search buildings for caches and puzzles. The game keeps a watch for filter time, no crosshair and a paper map, the kind of survival detail the tighter levels let 4A stage by hand, and Bloch says nothing in it is prefabricated.
What others predict
Predictions made on video by creators, experts or the subject of this page, in their words, each linked at the second it is said. The one line after each is our view. When the facts are known we add the result, right or wrong.
WiseFish: the Stranger is really Hunter
"I think it's fair to say that there is enough evidence within this trailer and the last that the protagonist must be Hunter." (YouTube's automatic captions)
Our view: We think he is wrong, because 4A and Deep Silver name Hunter as the Fuhrer and the Stranger as a different former Spartan, and a twist that large would undo their whole campaign.
WiseFish: the Dark Ones are on the Stranger's side
"I think they are actually the ones trying to reach out to the stranger to help them fight back against the Novoright and Hunter." (YouTube's automatic captions)
Our view: We think he is right, since the Dark Ones' voices joining the Fuhrer's chant in the Gamescom trailer reads to us as a warning, not an alliance with Hunter.
Moments
- Out on the surface Over footage of the pre-release build supplied by the publisher, GameSpot's previewer explains that the surface areas are much smaller than Metro Exodus's open levels, but leave room to search buildings for ammunition caches, puzzles and small stories told by the surroundings.
- A Metro without hope GameSpot's previewer sums up the premise: years after Metro Exodus, the departure of Artyom and the other Spartans has left a power vacuum, a fascist faction has taken over the Metro, and none of the third game's optimism is left.
- The first voiced lead TmarTn2, playing a mission from about halfway through the pre-release build, points out that the Stranger is the series' first fully voiced protagonist, talking to other characters at the gunsmith and in cutscenes, and that the mission has him looking for Hunter.
- Hunter, only teased IGN's previewer takes a scoped rifle to a nest of Novoreich soldiers and notes that Hunter, their Fuhrer, was only teased in the demo he played, too little to judge him as a villain.
- Crafting in Sevastopolskaya In jackfrags's preview of the pre-release build, he walks through the station's settlement, crafts filters, bandages and medkits from his bag, upgrades weapons, and meets the station chief, who sends him to learn about a local gang leader paid by the Novoreich before he climbs the escalator to the surface.
- Due in February 2027 Before the exact day was announced, TmarTn2 gives the window as February 2027 on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Steam and Epic, remarks how long it has been since the last Metro game, and says his mission comes from about halfway through.
- Making a game in a war zone In FGS's interview, a 4A Games developer describes power cuts and rocket and drone attacks that send staff to shelters at any hour and make the schedule hard to keep, and then says the story changed completely when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
- "Might just be peak Metro" GameSpot's previewer says he played about three hours of a demo set halfway through the game, streamed over Nvidia's GeForce Now, that the footage shown is publisher-supplied B-roll, and that if the rest holds up Metro 2039 might be peak Metro.
References
- Metro 2039, Deep Silverprimary
- Metro 2039 launches February 4, 2027, PS5 Pro gameplay revealed, PlayStation Blog, 2026-09-03primary
- Metro 2039 on Steam, Steamprimary
- Metro 2039, Xbox Storeprimary
- Metro 2039 | Pre-Order Now!, Deep Silver, 2026-10-13primary
- Xbox First Look: Metro 2039, everything we learned today, Xbox Wire, 2026-04-16primary
- Metro 2039 revealed as the post-apocalyptic shooter series returns, PlayStation Blog, 2026-04-16primary
- Hunter Gameplay Trailer: There is a liar in these tunnels, Deep Silver, 2026-06-07primary
- Xbox Games Showcase 2026 recap: everything announced, Xbox Wire, 2026-06-07primary
- ONL Gameplay Trailer: You've come to the wrong place, Stranger, Deep Silver, 2026-08-25primary
- Metro 2039 launches February 4th 2027, Deep Silver, 2026-09-02primary
- Gamescom Wrap Up, Deep Silver, 2026-09-16primary
- Gamescom 2026: thank you for visiting, 4A Games, 2026-09-04primary
- Metro 2039 isn't kidding around, Xbox Wire, 2026-08-26press
- Metro 2039 ditches hope entirely for a darker return to Moscow, Wccftech, 2026-08-26press
- Metro 2039: a letter to our community, 4A Games, 2026-04-16primary
- Russian writer Glukhovsky sentenced in absentia for condemning war, RFE/RL, 2023-08-07press
- Metro 2039 has reached 1 million wishlists, Deep Silver, 2026-05-05primary
- Metro Redux | Next-Gen Update coming this month, Deep Silver, 2026-10-01primary
- Metro Exodus hits 10 million copies sold, Game Developer, 2024-02-15press
- Metro 2033, Metacriticpress
- Metro: Last Light, Metacriticpress
- Metro Exodus, Metacriticpress
- A new single-player Metro game is in active development, Game Informer, 2020-11-25press
- 4A Games studio update, 4A Games, 2025-02-28primary
- 4A Games, 4A Gamesprimary
- Metro author Dmitry Glukhovsky interview, Digital Trends, 2013-05-19press
- Metro 2039 abandons the "moral grayness" from previous games, but 4A Games confirms the series' hidden Karma system is returning, GamesRadar+, 2026-08-29press
- Metro Redux gets a next-gen update, 4A Games, 2026-10-29primary
Reference links open in a new tab, so this page stays where you left it.
About this page
- Drafted by
- claude-opus-5-5 on 2026-11-07T12:00:00Z
- Checked by
- no AI check has run on this page
- Reviewed by
- not yet reviewed by a named human
- Status
- Published and revised continuously; this version is the one described here.
- Published
- 7 November 2026
- Last updated
- 7 November 2026, see what changed
- Sources
- No Wikipedia source; the sources are listed above.
- License
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0; embedded videos and thumbnails remain their uploaders’ property, shown under YouTube’s Terms of Service; quotations excluded. Details
- Permalink
- https://heartipedia.com/id/q5mzmok