Metro 2039 is the next chapter in 4A Games’ post-apocalyptic shooter franchise, and we now know what its gameplay will look like and what the story will be.
The game had its official reveal on April 16, 2026, via Xbox First Look. Set in 2039, it drops players back into the radioactive husk of Moscow, where survivors have spent a quarter-century fighting, surviving, and slowly turning the Metro into a war machine.
At the heart of the new story is a fanatical Spartan-turned-dictator, who now leads a brutal regime known as Novoreich. Here’s a detailed breakdown of everything we know so far about Metro 2039, including the setting, story, characters, combat, and more.
Table of contents
When will Metro 2039 release and on which platforms?
As of the first official reveal, Deep Silver and 4A Games have officially confirmed Metro 2039 is coming “this Winter,” on all current-gen consoles, including Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5, as well as for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.
The devs haven’t locked down a concrete release date yet, which means it could come out at any time between December 2026 and February 2027, unless it gets delayed. The reveal suggests that the upcoming title will stick to the core loop of 4A Games’ earlier titles, including survival-style FPS combat, resource management, and heavy environmental storytelling.
Metro 2039 setting, gameplay, and story details
Metro 2039 returns to the Moscow Metro universe that started with Metro 2033 and continued through Metro: Last Light and Metro Exodus, but it jumps the timeline forward to 2039, which is roughly 25 years after the original “Metro” novels and five to six years after the end of Exodus.
Unlike Exodus, which had a more open-ended structure, the upcoming game will have a tighter, more focused campaign set almost entirely within the tunnels and ruins of Moscow. The surface, meanwhile, is treated as a looming threat and a possible battleground.
The trailers and early gameplay snippets emphasize tension, with low-light corridors, flickering rails, overheard announcements in Russian, and the constant threat of both mutants and hostile humans. At the same time, Metro 2039 appears to double down on the series’ signature atmospheric design. The surface sections lean into washed-out, foggy skies and poisoned sunsets, signifying the world is still fundamentally broken even after decades of survival.
Given how much the Metro series has leaned into immersive-sim and moral-choice systems in the past, it’s safe to assume Metro 2039 will maintain that DNA. The color palette is once again dominated by browns, greys, and muted greens, with the occasional burst of harsh red or blue from emergency lights or propaganda posters.
Metro 2039: Who is Hunter and what is Novoreich?
Hunter is not a new character. Long-time fans of the series will recognize him as the legendary Spartan who first appeared in Metro 2033 and later became a central figure in the novels and games. In the earlier entries, he was portrayed as a stoic, almost mythic warrior philosopher, but Metro 2039 reframes him as a zealous, authoritarian leader who has consolidated power over the entire network.
Hunter’s regime, Novoreich, is a fanatical state built on propaganda, fear, and strict control. Instead of just defending the Metro, the new Führer appears to be using it as a base to launch a new war onto the surface.
Who is the Stranger in Metro 2039 and what role do they play?
The Stranger is the player character in Metro 2039, living in the radioactive wilderness outside Moscow. He is haunted by violent waking nightmares that force him back into the tunnels he abandoned.
The trailer shows him as a man suited up for the surface, wearing a modified helmet and a gas mask, suggesting that he could be a veteran who has cut ties with the Metro’s leadership. His return pits him directly against Hunter’s regime, turning what could have been a simple survival run into a clash between two very different visions for humanity’s future.
