4A Games, the well-known game development studio best recognized for its work on the Metro series may be hard at work on the Virtual Reality-exclusive Arktika.1, though it seems like the Metro series developer hasn’t completely forgotten its novel-inspired nuclear war-ravaged Russian roots. According to a timeline on the Metro website, the next, and probably the final, game in the post-apocalyptic series – Metro 2035 – has been scheduled for launch next year.
Any of you guys who’ve bothered to follow the series will most likely know that both Metro 2033 and Last Light are actually just spin-offs of the original collection of novels — the third and last part of which launched last year, and also whose English version is due on December 10 (it’s actually in Russian, if you hadn’t realised that by now). The official website offers a comprehensive timeline which covers both the novels and the games. The timeline initially pointed towards a 2017 release but it no longer does. The site initially read:
It all adds up to something. Where the books end their story, the game will pick it up. An era of great discoveries lies ahead…The next Metro video game.
When 4A officially announced Arktika.1, the game’s creative director Andriy Prokohrov mentioned that it was “one of TWO projects in development right now,” before adding, “We’re not ready to talk about the other project just yet, but we think you’ll like it. So please be patient!”
The Metro series’ official publisher Deep Silver has issued an official statement which seems to rule out Metro 2035’s release next year completely.
While the stated schedule originally spoke of “the Metro 2035 video game” under the heading ‘2017’, the final marker is now changed to a question mark and “An untitled Metro project“. These feature alongside an amended description which now reads:
But the Metro saga doesn’t end where the books leave us… An era of great discoveries lies ahead!
You may have noticed some sites have reported that a new Metro game would be released in 2017. Deep Silver has released the following statement…
As the exclusive rights holder to videogames set in the Metro 2033 universe, Deep Silver has ambitious plans for the hugely successful Metro series.
But just to manage our fans’ expectations – releasing the next Metro game in 2017 is not one of them.
When we have more news to share, we will.
Thank you for your patience.
Assuming that the book site’s complete timeline is totally correct, that patience could also just be relative. In his most recent edition of Now Playing, Andriy truly admired Metro’s interpretation of the book’s Moscow underground. Stay tuned for more Metro 2035 updates as the story is still developing.
