Directive 8020 is Finally Here! Fans (and myself) Have Been Waiting and It’s Better Than We Could’ve Imagined

The newest installment of the Dark Pictures Anthology, Directive 8020, is finally releasing sometime next year, and I can’t wait. If you were me and played the last game in the series, The Devil In Me, you probably saw the hint, which featured a scene of the next game in the series. It really set up the hype for Directive 8020, and then, the game was delayed. And just to remind you, the Devil In Me came out 3 years ago… It’s been a long delay. I will be going over the new trailer unveiled at Gamescom this year, the new game mechanics Supermassive Games will be introducing, and all that was covered during the game footage preview.

Gamescom 2025 Trailer

The Directive 8020 preview trailer was unveiled at Gamescom this year, and Supermassive Games is gifting us with the release of Directive 8020 sometime next year. The trailer unveiled all the playable characters within the game. There are at least 5 confirmed playable characters: Brianna Young, Nolan Stafford, Laura Eisele, Samantha Cooper, and Josef Cernan.

As per Dark Pictures style, we will be playing as all these characters and have to survive a deadly ordeal, keeping or trying to keep all these characters alive. From the trailer, it looks as if these characters will have to deal with a deadly and probably infectious alien species, highlighting the characters’ mistrust of each other, while stuck in outer space. It’s very reminiscent of the classic horror movie, The Thing, and I am so down for this plot line. 

The trailer also hints at how gruesome the alien species is and how horrifying it can mutate humans. The gore has definitely been stepped up, the graphics and in-game art are crazy good, and the trailer does an amazing job of showing a glimpse of what fear does to people who are trapped in a shoe box. It already looks awesome, and the game hasn’t even come out yet.

Directive 8020 Introduces Turning Points

The most important aspect in a Dark Pictures game is the ability to make choices with these characters and see how these choices will affect the game’s progression. In the first Supermassive game, Until Dawn, which is still their most popular one, the devs took the time to explain the butterfly effect, a core concept of the game, and it is obviously going to be used in Directive 8020.

However, for the first time ever, the devs will introduce a new gameplay mechanic called turning points, which will essentially give the players an option to go back to change the outcomes of their choices. This is really important because choices are really important in these games. Choosing wisely or unwisely can be the difference between whether a character lives or dies. Turning points will undo all of that. The extent to how much we can use this new game mechanic, I’m not sure, and how this will affect gameplay, I can only imagine. However, I know this definitely changes the core gameplay of future Supermassive Games, and I can’t wait to play it.