The next entry in Supermassive Games’ Dark Pictures Anthology is almost here. Directive 8020 is the studio’s first foray into the vast unknown of space, with the series’ classic choice-based gameplay taking players into a spaceship and a new planet to face a horrifying, shapeshifting alien intent on killing the entire crew.
Directive 8020’s release date this spring is giving 2026 a great start with horror games (Resident Evil 9: Requiem’s release is just around the corner). With a sprawling story, plenty of ways to experience agonizing character deaths, and a multiplayer mode, Directive 8020 is one of the most anticipated games of the year.
Directive 8020 Story
Directive 8020 is the first science fiction entry in the Dark Pictures Anthology by Supermassive Games. The game follows the ten crew members of the Cassiopeia, a colony ship sent to survey Tau Ceti f, a planet that may be humanity’s last chance of survival. The Cassiopeia’s mission is thrown into chaos when the ship crashes and an alien with shapeshifting abilities begins to attack the crew.
The Steam page for Directive 8020 describes the story: “hunted by an alien organism capable of mimicking its prey, the crew of the Cassiopeia must outwit their pursuers to make it home alive. As they battle to survive, they are confronted with the hardest choice of all: to save themselves, they must risk the lives of everyone on Earth.”
The five playable members of the crew – pilot Brianna Young, commander Nolan Stafford, senior mission officer Laura Eisele, technical engineer Josef Cernan, and medical specialist Samantha Cooper – will have to navigate both their broken ship and the unfamiliar planet while evading the alien, in all its gory forms. The crew’s cast is led by Lashana Lynch, playing pilot Young, best known for playing Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel.
The plot and story elements of Directive 8020 are heavily inspired by classic sci-fi horror movies like The Thing, Alien, and Event Horizon, influences that the game is proudly wearing on its sleeve.
Directive 8020 Gameplay
Like all previous Dark Picture Anthology titles, Directive 8020’s gameplay is based on player choice. Character’s fates and the outcome of the entire story are dependent on decisions made by the player, often in stressful situations with only seconds to choose (or less, with the frequent QTEs found in other games).
Directive 8020 is introducing a new mechanic to the Dark Picture Anthology with ‘Turning Points’. This feature will let players rewind their previous decisions to “uncover multiple endings” and “unlock hidden paths”. While earlier games often heavily emphasized exploration to fully unlock the story and earn the best possible ending, Directive 8020 will be more focused on avoiding an alien creature, Alien: Isolation-style, which will make exploration difficult.
The “Turning Points” mechanic will allow players to fully experience the branching storyline of the game without being punished for their curiosity, by accidentally killing off characters and being forced to replay the entire game.
Directive 8020 release date and platforms
Though first teased in the credits of the last Dark Anthology game, The Devil in Me, in 2022, Directive 8020 didn’t receive a release date until Feb. 2026. Thankfully, the developers confirmed the game will release for May 12, 2026.
2026 has been a strange year for game release date announcements, likely due to every developer trying their absolute best to avoid debuting their game anywhere near the juggernaut release of Grand Theft Auto 6 later this year.
Pre-orders and deluxe editions are currently available for purchase, which include outfits from earlier games, a digital artbook, and extra missions.
Directive 8020 will be available to play on PC (through Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
With such a long wait since the last Dark Pictures game (all the way back in 2022), Directive 8020 is coming out to high expectations, but trailers and teasers have all been promising.
