Metro 2039: 11 Things to Know Before the 4 February 2027 Release

By the Filmoria News Desk

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Metro 2039, the fourth mainline Metro game from Ukrainian studio 4A Games and publisher Deep Silver, launches on 4 February 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam and the Epic Games Store). Pre-orders opened on 13 October 2026, with the Standard Edition listed at £59.99 in the UK, and the game swaps long-time hero Artyom for a new voiced protagonist called the Stranger, back in the tunnels under a Moscow now ruled by a tyrant named Hunter.

Pre-order Metro 2039 (PS5) on Amazon UK

This is a list of the 11 key things to know about Metro 2039 before it comes out on 4 February 2027. We’ve ordered them by what matters most to a player deciding whether to pre-order: when and where it lands and what it costs first, then the story, the gameplay, the marketing so far and the open questions.

1. Release Date and Platforms (4 February 2027, PS5 / Xbox Series X|S / PC)

What makes it stand out: It’s the first Metro game built only for current-generation consoles and PC, with no PS4 or Xbox One version holding it back.

Key data: Out on 4 February 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam and the Epic Games Store, with Xbox Play Anywhere support so one purchase covers Xbox and Windows.

Why it matters: February is usually a quieter month for big releases, and Metro 2039 now gets clear water rather than fighting for attention in a crowded autumn.

The exact date arrived on 3 September 2026, during Sony’s State of Play, alongside a new console gameplay trailer. Game Informer and Insider Gaming both reported it from the show, and Deep Silver’s own store listings followed. It’s a Thursday, which is a slightly unusual choice for a big multiplatform shooter, but nothing to read into.

The platform list hasn’t changed since the reveal in April. Xbox hosted that first look, which led to a brief flurry of people asking whether this was an Xbox console exclusive. It isn’t. PlayStation got the release date, the PS Store page went live with pre-orders, and PC players get a choice of storefront. One small wrinkle: when the Steam page first appeared it listed English as the only supported language for interface, audio and subtitles. That’s likely to change before launch, but it’s worth keeping an eye on if you play in another language.

There’s no Switch 2 version announced, and no word on whether it will be on Game Pass or PlayStation Plus at launch. Deep Silver hasn’t hinted at either, and given that pre-orders are open at full price, we wouldn’t bet on a day-one subscription drop.

2. Pre-Orders, Editions and UK Prices (13 October 2026, three editions)

What makes it stand out: The Collector’s Edition comes with a wearable replica of the Stranger’s Spartan helmet, which is about as Metro as merchandise gets.

Key data: Pre-orders opened on 13 October 2026; the Standard Edition is £59.99 / $69.99, the Digital Deluxe is $99.99, the physical Deluxe is £94.99 / $109.99 and the Collector’s Edition is reported at $299.99.

Why it matters: The £59.99 base price undercuts the £69.99 that several big 2026 releases asked for, which makes it an easier sell in a pricey year.

Insider Gaming had reported a week or so beforehand that pre-orders would open on 13 October, and that’s exactly what happened. Push Square confirmed the PS5 listing on the day, with the base game at £59.99 and $69.99. Prima Games’ editions guide puts the physical Deluxe at £94.99, $109.99 and €109.99.

Here’s how the editions break down. The Standard Edition is just the game. The Digital Deluxe adds the Story Expansion DLC plus a digital art book and soundtrack. The physical Deluxe includes everything in the Digital Deluxe, then adds a hardback art book and an exclusive SteelBook. The Collector’s Edition, sold through selected retailers, adds the Spartan helmet replica on top of all of that. GameStop’s US listing spells out the full contents: game disc, SteelBook, hardback art book, Story Expansion, digital art book and digital soundtrack.

UK retailers have already started shaving the price. TechRadar’s round-up spotted the PS5 Standard Edition at £59.99 at Smyths, £54.99 at Game and £54.95 at The Game Collection, and Argos has it listed at £49.99. No official UK price for the Collector’s Edition has been published, so treat any sterling figure you see for it with caution until a UK retailer lists it.

3. The Story Expansion and the Specialist Pack (2027 DLC, pre-order bonus)

What makes it stand out: 4A Games has committed to post-launch story content before the base game is even out, which the series has done before but rarely announced this early.

Key data: The Story Expansion is due at some point in 2027 and is included in the Deluxe and Collector’s Editions; every pre-order gets the Specialist Pack, made up of three backpack upgrades.

Why it matters: If you think you’ll want the expansion, the Deluxe Edition is the cheaper way in, since no standalone DLC price has been announced.

The expansion was confirmed alongside pre-orders on 13 October. Beyond the 2027 window, Deep Silver hasn’t said what it covers, how long it is or whether it follows the Stranger or another character. Metro Exodus had two story expansions, The Two Colonels and Sam’s Story, and both were well liked, so there’s some precedent for the DLC being more than filler.

The Specialist Pack is smaller. It’s three pouches for the Stranger’s backpack: the Equipment Specialist Pouch, the Chemtech Specialist Pouch and the Munitions Specialist Pouch. The names suggest more carrying room for gear, crafting materials and ammo respectively, which in a Metro game is not nothing. Running out of filters or bullets halfway through a tunnel is the series’ signature panic, and a little extra space early on could genuinely change how the opening hours feel. Still, it’s a pre-order bonus, and these things usually find their way into a paid bundle later.

4. The Stranger: A New Hero Replaces Artyom (Xbox First Look, 16 April 2026)

What makes it stand out: For the first time in a mainline Metro game, you’re not playing as Artyom, and the new lead actually talks.

Key data: The protagonist is known only as the Stranger, a fully voiced character revealed during the Xbox First Look broadcast on 16 April 2026 at 6pm UK time.

Why it matters: Artyom’s silence was a defining part of Metro, so a voiced lead changes how the story is told, not just who’s telling it.

Artyom carried Metro 2033 in 2010, Last Light in 2013 and Exodus in 2019. Exodus ended with several possible outcomes for him, and 4A has chosen to sidestep that rather than pick one. Instead, the Stranger is driven back down into the tunnels by violent nightmares, looking for answers. Epic Games Store’s official recap of the series describes him that way, and coverage of the Gamescom trailer talks about a man shaped by anger and betrayal.

The Collector’s Edition gives away one more clue. It’s the Stranger’s own Spartan helmet that you can buy a replica of, described in retail listings as a crafted version of his battle-scarred headgear. The Spartan Rangers are the Order that Artyom eventually joined in the earlier games. So whoever the Stranger is, he has some history with them, and with the people he’s coming back to.

A voiced protagonist is a big swing. Artyom spoke only in loading-screen monologues, and many fans liked that, since it let the world do the talking. The flip side is that a voiced character can carry a more personal story, and given how much darker 4A says this one is, that might be the point.

5. Hunter and the Novoreich (Hunter gameplay trailer, June 2026)

What makes it stand out: The villain shares his name with one of the most important characters from the very first game.

Key data: Deep Silver’s official trailer, titled “There is a liar in these tunnels”, introduces Hunter as the Metro’s new Führer, ruling through lies and propaganda.

Why it matters: If this is the same Hunter, it’s a dramatic turn for a character Metro fans have wondered about for 16 years.

Metro 2033 opens with a Ranger called Hunter, who visits Artyom’s home station and hands him the mission that kicks off the whole story. Hunter then vanishes for most of the game. The new trailer frames a Hunter who now runs the Metro as a dictator. 4A hasn’t spelled out whether it’s the same man, and we’d hold off on assuming so until the studio says it, but a German outlet, PC Games, ran its trailer story under a headline about a Hunter tyrant story twist, and plenty of fans are reading it the same way.

The setting around him has shifted, too. Reports say the station communities are close to collapse, and a faction called the Novoreich has taken control of most of the Metro. Its leader promises a bright future in which humanity reclaims the surface. Underneath the slogans, it’s about control by force. That Novoreich detail comes from a single report, so it’s not officially locked in, though the “Führer” language in Deep Silver’s own trailer copy fits it neatly.

6. A Story Shaped by the War in Ukraine (4A Games, Kyiv and Malta)

What makes it stand out: It’s being made by a Ukrainian studio during a war, and 4A has said openly that the story is told from a Ukrainian perspective.

Key data: 4A Games was founded in Kyiv and moved its operations centre to Malta after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022; earlier reports put its team across around 20 countries.

Why it matters: A series set in a Russian capital, created by a Ukrainian team after an invasion, was always going to change, and 4A is leaning into that rather than avoiding it.

The studio’s own description says the story will explore the consequences of war, the cost of silence, the horrors of tyranny and the price of freedom. It adds that, while told from a distinctly Ukrainian perspective, Metro 2039 remains an authentic Metro story. That second line reads like a reassurance to long-time fans who don’t want a lecture. The first line reads like the reason the game exists.

Dmitry Glukhovsky, who wrote the Metro novels and worked on the new game’s story, said before the reveal that Metro 2039 would be darker than anything players had seen in the series before. Windows Central reported that comment in April. It’s a big claim from a series that has already featured mass graves, cannibals and nuclear grief, but the themes 4A has outlined back it up.

You can see why the earlier, more hopeful ending of Exodus, with its train full of survivors heading for a new life, might have felt hard to follow up honestly after 2022. Pulling the series back underground and putting a propagandist in charge is a fairly direct answer.

7. Gameplay: Stealth, Scarce Resources, Tunnels and Surface (first-person survival shooter)

What makes it stand out: After Exodus opened things up with big sandbox maps, 4A is pitching Metro 2039 as a return to close, claustrophobic tunnel fighting.

Key data: Trailers and previews describe first-person stealth-action, tunnel and surface exploration, limited resources, diegetic survival systems and new weapons, including a pneumatic rifle called the Shatun.

Why it matters: The tunnels are what many fans loved most about 2033 and Last Light, and Exodus’s open areas divided opinion.

Coverage of the June gameplay reveal talked about “close and claustrophobic” stealth-action, tunnel and surface exploration, the series’ iconic mechanics and diegetic survival elements. Diegetic is the key word for Metro. It means the information lives in the world, not on a HUD: you check your watch for your filter timer, wipe your gas mask when it cracks and fogs, and read the map on a clipboard. German outlet GamePro summarised the Gamescom footage as heavy on stealth passages, managing limited resources and brutal action.

The Gamescom trailer, shown on 25 August, added a new station and the Shatun, a pneumatic rifle. Air-powered weapons have been part of Metro since the Tikhar in 2033, and they’re the quiet option for players who’d rather not wake up the whole tunnel.

What 4A hasn’t detailed yet is how open the surface sections are. “Tunnel and surface exploration” could mean anything from short above-ground stretches, as in Last Light, to larger hub areas like Exodus. One preview noted that fans still need to see longer gameplay and more on exploration, weapon crafting, stealth systems and enemy variety, and that’s fair. The trailers so far are very good at mood and less clear on structure.

8. The Trailers and Reveals So Far (April to September 2026)

What makes it stand out: Few games have had prime slots in Xbox, Gamescom and PlayStation showcases in the same year, and Metro 2039 got all three.

Key data: Xbox First Look reveal on 16 April 2026; Hunter gameplay trailer at the Xbox Games Showcase in June; “Renegade” trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live on 25 August; release-date trailer at State of Play on 3 September.

Why it matters: Being shown by both platform holders is a sign of how much weight is behind it, and it explains how it hit a million wishlists so fast.

The campaign started with a tease. Xbox announced on 13 April that it would host a dedicated First Look broadcast three days later, a new format for Microsoft. That 16 April stream showed a roughly six-minute reveal with a gameplay tease, the new voiced lead and the return to Moscow. The Steam page and store listings went live the same day, with a “winter 2026” window.

June’s Xbox Games Showcase brought the first proper gameplay trailer, nearly three minutes long, centred on Hunter. It also pushed the release window to February 2027. Then on 25 August, the “Renegade” trailer opened up the Stranger’s darker side at Gamescom Opening Night Live, the new Collector’s Edition was revealed, and there was a playable demo in Hall 9.1 from 26 to 30 August. Finally, the September State of Play trailer locked in 4 February.

Since then it’s been quieter: the pre-order launch in October came with an editions trailer, per Worthplaying, but no major new gameplay. If the pattern holds, expect another push in December, perhaps around The Game Awards, though nothing has been announced.

9. Why It Moved From Winter 2026 to February 2027 (Xbox Games Showcase, June 2026)

What makes it stand out: It’s one of several big games that ended up out of the way of Grand Theft Auto VI’s November 2026 launch.

Key data: Announced in April for winter 2026, the window moved to February 2027 when the Hunter gameplay trailer debuted at the Xbox Games Showcase in early June 2026.

Why it matters: A few months is a modest slip, and launching away from GTA VI should help a single-player shooter get noticed.

Deep Silver and 4A haven’t given a public reason for the move, at least not one we could find. Some outlets, including TheSixthAxis, framed it as Metro dodging the GTA VI problem, since Rockstar’s game is due on 19 November 2026. That’s a reasonable reading, but it’s commentary, not a quote from the studio. It’s also worth remembering that “winter 2026” could always have meant early 2027 in practice, so it may be more of a firming-up than a true delay.

If you want the full picture on Rockstar’s game, our 12 things to know before GTA 6 launches on 19 November covers the date and the UK prices. And for a wider look at what’s coming, our Upcoming Games round-up lists the other major releases.

10. The Numbers: A Million Wishlists and a 50-Million-Selling Series

What makes it stand out: It hit a million wishlists faster than any previous game in Embracer Group’s history.

Key data: 4A Games announced on 1 May 2026 that Metro 2039 had passed one million wishlists across platforms, about two weeks after the reveal; on 1 October 2026 Deep Silver said the Metro series had sold more than 50 million units.

Why it matters: Those are strong numbers for a single-player shooter, and they make Metro 2039 one of Embracer’s most important releases of 2027.

A million wishlists in roughly a fortnight is genuinely quick. Embracer’s own report called it record-breaking for the group, which owns a lot of studios. Wishlists don’t equal sales, of course, but they’re a useful early signal, and they gave Deep Silver a reason to put real money behind the marketing.

The 50 million figure covers every Metro game: 2033, Last Light, both Redux remasters, Exodus and the VR spin-off, Metro Awakening, from 2023. That’s a lot of players for a series that has always been a bit of a cult favourite next to the likes of Call of Duty. Timing the announcement for October, right before pre-orders opened, was clearly deliberate. It’s a nice little reminder that people already turn up for this series.

11. The Gamescom Demo and What We Still Don’t Know

What makes it stand out: People have already played it, but the big practical details are still missing three months from launch.

Key data: A playable demo ran at Gamescom from 26 to 30 August 2026; PC system requirements, the Story Expansion date, the official PEGI rating and the review embargo have not been announced.

Why it matters: PC players in particular will want specs soon, given how demanding Metro Exodus was with ray tracing turned on.

The Gamescom demo was open to the public and to press, with media impressions scheduled to go live from 26 August. That’s a decent sign of confidence, since studios don’t usually let thousands of people play a game they’re nervous about.

Still, the list of unknowns is longer than you’d expect this close to release. The Steam page didn’t list system requirements at the time of the most recent reports. Exodus’s Enhanced Edition went ray-tracing-only on PC, so the question of whether Metro 2039 needs a ray-tracing-capable graphics card is a real one. There’s also no word on PS5 Pro enhancements, no confirmed runtime and nothing on accessibility options. Deep Silver has a busy few months ahead if it wants to answer all of that before 4 February.

Is Metro 2039 Worth Waiting For?

On what’s been shown, yes. 4A Games has a strong track record, the trailers look the part, and pulling the series back into the tunnels plays to what Metro does best. The bigger gamble is tonal. A voiced hero, a Ukrainian perspective and a promise of the darkest Metro yet could make this the most personal game the studio has made, or a heavier one than some players expect. We’ll find out on 4 February 2027. Until then, the £59.99 Standard Edition is the sensible pre-order unless you know you want the Story Expansion.

Sources: Game Informer (State of Play release date), Push Square (pre-orders and DLC), Deep Silver (Hunter gameplay trailer), Game Informer (Gamescom trailer), Insider Gaming (one million wishlists), Prima Games (editions and pricing).

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