4A Games has officially announced the next game in the long-running Metro video game series, subtitled Metro 2039. The game has been in development for several years now, with this severely complicated by Russia’s continued war on Ukraine.
As developers note, Metro 2039 has been completely reshaped and changed by the war, as much of the Ukraine-based 4A Games team has been dealing with its consequences for years now. While many have been able to relocate, the majority reportedly still works from various locations around Ukraine, all of which have been impacted by the war.
Their experiences will guide a more grounded, realistic exploration of war and its consequences.
Metro 2039 announced, new details – quick links
What to know about Metro 2039
Metro 2039 will follow a mysterious recluse known as The Stranger, who is ‘forced to undertake a harrowing journey back down to the Metro, a place he swore to never return.’
Within this post-apocalyptic Metro, he’ll encounter an array of independent factions, all united under the power and leadership of a person known as the Fuhrer. Combatting these factions, as well as his own trauma-inspired illusions, the game’s protagonist will work to survive the Metro and destabilise the balance of dictatorship.
‘We are not romanticising the post-apocalypse, or making a theme park out of it. Metro has always been a more tragic view on our actions as humanity,’ Pawel Ulmer, Co-Creative Director and Lead Audio Designer said, via Xbox Wire.
Plans for Metro 2039 were completely changed after Russia’s war on Ukraine
This will be a ‘darker’ chapter for the Metro series, inspired by a more grounded understanding of war and how it can reshape the world.
‘Everything we had planned for the next chapter of Metro changed [after the war],’ Jon Bloch, Executive Producer said.
‘The meaning has always been about preventing war,’ Ulmer said.
‘But now, war is our reality, and our message has shifted to be about the consequences, the cost of silence, the horrors of tyranny, and the price of freedom,’ Andriy ‘mLs’ Shevchenko, Creative Director added.
Per the team, the lives of everyone at 4A Games changed when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. Many team members and their friends and families still reside in Ukraine, living and working under war conditions.
‘Reality forced us to take a different approach, told from a uniquely Ukrainian perspective,’ Shevchenko said. ‘But this is still a Metro story, in the Metro universe.’
Given the experiences of the team, Metro 2039 should certainly be a layered, unique experience – one shaped by the perspectives of Ukrainian developers facing uncertainty and terror as Russia’s war continues.
Metro 2039 is set to launch next Summer [Southern Hemisphere].
Also on ScreenHub: UK government announces £30 million boost for video games developers
The United Kingdom government has announced a significant investment of £30 million (AU$56.8 million) into its local video games industry, to support the ‘next generation of smash hit games.’
While the media release states lofty goals – to create ‘the next Grand Theft Auto or Tomb Raider‘ – it’s a welcome move in the right direction, to help support UK developers and studios through a tough economic time. The newly-announced investment is part of the UK government’s Creative Industries Sector Plan, which aims to ensure the ‘UK is the number one destination worldwide for investment in creativity and innovation’.
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