The developers of Metro 2039 have revealed that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 forced a fundamental rewrite of the game, making it the darkest entry yet in the post-apocalyptic series. Executive producer Jon Bloch told Polygon that the team had to rethink their original story from scratch, channelling the emotions of Ukrainian staff and everyone in the country into a narrative focused on the consequences of war. This matters because it shows how a real-world conflict has directly reshaped a major video game's creative direction, moving it away from the hopeful tone of its predecessor.

Due out in February 2027 from developer 4A Games, Metro 2039 follows 2010's Metro 2033 and 2019's Metro Exodus, and is based on Dmitry Glukhovsky's novels. Creative director Andriy Shevchenko described it as "a game without heroes," featuring a new protagonist called the Stranger, who is the first mainline series character able to speak and is driven by personal motivation rather than altruism. A hands-on preview found a grim, punishing world above the tunnels, populated by mutants and hostile factions, with the reviewer dying repeatedly during a demo session.