Directive 8020

Directive 8020 is an upcoming interactive drama and survival horror video game developed and published by Supermassive Games. It is the first game of the second season, and the fifth game overall in The Dark Pictures Anthology. Continuing the series' premise, the game features a cast of five playable protagonists and a multilinear narrative influenced by player choices. Its decision-making scenes can significantly alter the trajectory of the plot and change the relationships between the main characters; some can lead to the permanent death of the protagonists. In Directive 8020, a colony ship called Cassiopeia crash lands on Tau Ceti f, a planet that is 12 light-years from Earth. Lashana Lynch, who plays astronaut and pilot of the Cassiopeia, Brianna Young, is being marketed as the game's leading actress. Directive 8020 will be released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 2 October 2025.

Directive 8020
Box art featuring Brianna Young, one of the game's five protagonists
Developer(s)	Supermassive Games
Publisher(s)	Supermassive Games
Director(s)	Will Doyle
Composer(s)	Jason Graves
Series	The Dark Pictures Anthology
Engine	Unreal Engine 5[1]
Platform(s)	PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox Series X/S
Release	2 October 2025
Genre(s)	Interactive drama, survival horror
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

Directive 8020 is an interactive drama and survival horror game presented from a third-person perspective. Player control switches between the protagonists, the crew of a colony ship called Cassiopeia, which crash lands on Tau Ceti f, a planet that is 12 light-years from Earth. The surviving crew members are scattered after being brought out of hypersleep early.^[2][3] Like previous games in the series, narrative choices and quick time events (QTEs) return, but Directive 8020 also includes stealth sections mixed in. The inventory system consists of tools that are linked to a "multifunctional utility strap" on the wrists of the characters. The strap also contains a shoulder mounted flashlight, with the enemies able to spot the beam when the light is on. Also included on the strap are a scanner that is used to spot an alien that is capable of mimicking the appearances of the crew, and a "wedge tool" that can be used to open a door as a last resort or to stun an enemy.^[3][4] Character movement has been reworked to feel "smoother on the sticks" according to creative director Will Doyle. Doyle also added that the game features "stronger survival horror action adventure elements to the gameplay".^[3][5]

Synopsis

Characters

The game's protagonists are Brianna Young (Lashana Lynch), an astronaut and pilot of the colony ship, Cassiopeia; the ship's commander, Nolan Stafford (Danny Sapani); senior mission officer, Laura Eisele (TBA); and medical specialist, Samantha Cooper (TBA).^[a]

Development

Directive 8020 is the fifth game in a series of eight planned for The Dark Pictures Anthology.^[10] It will be the first game in the anthology's second season.^[11] By mid-October 2022, the game was entering production with a lot of data already shot.^[12]

Story and design

The game features a colony ship called Cassiopeia that crash lands on Tau Ceti f, a planet that is 12 light-years away after setting out to look for a new home to save humanity due to Earth being in the process of dying.^[1][2] Doyle described Directive 8020 as "The Thing in deep space".^[13][14] Doyle stated that the game also takes inspiration from other sci-fi horror films including Solaris (1972), Alien (1979), Event Horizon (1997), Pandorum (2009), Prometheus (2012), Life (2017), and Sputnik (2020). Other influences include H. P. Lovecraft's cosmic horrors.^[13][15] There was a NASA directive 8020.7G that was about biological contamination control for outbound and inbound planetary spacecraft. However, the directive expired in June 2022.^[16]

Casting

Lashana Lynch (pictured in 2019), who plays Brianna Young, is being marketed as the game's leading actress.

Directive 8020 continues the trend of the anthology by casting a recognizable face as the lead character. Doyle said they were lucky to have Lynch and that she brought "incredible power and depth" to the role of Brianna Young.^[13] Danny Sapani plays the captain of the Cassiopeia, Commander Stafford.^[7]

Music

Jason Graves (pictured in 2016) reprises his role as composer for The Dark Pictures Anthology.

The soundtrack will be composed by Supermassive Games' long-time collaborator Jason Graves, who previously worked on music for the previous games in The Dark Pictures Anthology.^{[17][better source needed]}

Release

Directive 8020 was first revealed in a post-credits teaser trailer at the end of The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me,^[18][19] which was released on 18 November 2022.^[20] However, the trailer leaked online the day before The Devil in Me's release, revealing a sci-fi setting.^[19][21] On 31 December 2023, a short video teaser for the game was posted to celebrate New Year's Eve.^[22] At Gamescom in August 2024, the game was officially announced.^[2][23] Directive 8020 will be released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 2 October 2025.^[24]

Notes

1. Brianna Young,^[1][2] Nolan Stafford,^[6][7] Laura Eisele,^[8] Samantha Cooper.^[9]