4A Games and Deep Silver have officially revealed Metro 2039, the fourth mainline game in the Metro franchise. The announcement came during the Xbox First Look showcase on April 16, 2026. The game has a Winter 2026 release window and is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Metro 2039 is set four years after the events of Metro Exodus. Players take on the role of a new protagonist called “The Stranger,” a recluse haunted by violent waking nightmares who is forced to return to the Moscow Metro, a place he swore never to go back to.
The Moscow Metro in 2039 has fallen under the control of a fascist regime called the Novoreich, led by a figure known as Hunter, a legendary Spartan who has united the underground factions under one banner. Hunter’s rule relies on propaganda and fear.
In a change from previous entries, The Stranger will be fully voiced, which 4A Games says is a step toward deeper immersion in Metro’s style of atmospheric storytelling.
The Ukraine War Shaped the Game’s Story
The development of Metro 2039 was directly affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 4A Games said the invasion “fundamentally changed” not only life at the studio but the game itself. “Everything we had planned for the next chapter of Metro changed in 2020, and more significantly in 2022,” the studio stated.
4A Games was founded in Ukraine, and the team remains majority Ukrainian, though developers are now spread across more than 25 nationalities. The studio currently operates from two main locations, in Kyiv and Malta.
The studio said the game’s meaning shifted: “The meaning has always been about preventing war, but now, war is our reality, and our message has shifted to be about the consequences.” The game’s story will focus on choices, actions, consequences, and the cost of securing a future.
Co-Creative Director Pawel Ulmer said, “We are not romanticizing the post-apocalypse. Metro has always been a tragic view of our actions as humanity, but 2039 is our most personal and darkest chapter yet.”
Metro 2039 features an original story written by 4A Games in collaboration with Dmitry Glukhovsky, the author of the Metro novel series. The story is not based on a specific book but is inspired by the world Glukhovsky created. Glukhovsky is currently in exile after publicly criticising the Russian government.
Gameplay and Engine Details
The reveal included a six-minute trailer and a gameplay tease captured using a mix of real-time gameplay and cinematics. The footage showed familiar Metro elements such as handcrafted weapons, a wristwatch UI, and a mutant combat encounter against returning creatures called Nosalises.
The gameplay clip showed The Stranger choosing to retreat down an escalator rather than fight the Nosalises directly, only for his weapon to misfire, pointing to the game’s ammo and weapon maintenance systems.
Metro 2039 runs on the latest version of the 4A Engine. Executive producer Jon Bloch said, “If we need to build a new feature or do something in a specific way, with our own engine we can just make it. We’re limited only by our vision.” He noted that 4A Engine allowed them to be early pioneers of ray tracing with Metro Exodus, and they are pushing that further in Metro 2039.
On environmental storytelling, Bloch also said: “Nothing is prefabricated — everything is unique and grounded. When you walk into a room, it’s clear that a person lived there. You can feel what they were doing right before they left or died.”
Platforms and Release Window
Metro 2039 launches simultaneously on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and the Microsoft Store. It also supports Xbox Play Anywhere. No specific release date has been announced beyond Winter 2026.
The Metro series started with Metro 2033 in 2010, followed by Metro: Last Light in 2013 and Metro Exodus in 2019. Metro 2039 is the first mainline entry since Exodus, making it a seven-year gap between numbered titles.
