Metro 2039 has finally shown its console face, and it is a particularly sharp one. 4A Games says its new post-apocalyptic shooter will run with ray tracing at 60fps on both PS5 and PS5 Pro through a dedicated Performance Mode.
The State of Play demonstration was captured on PS5 Pro, showing the Stranger crossing a thawing, radioactive Moscow before attacking a Novoreich fortress built inside a dam. The game launches on 4 February 2027 in most regions, but Australia and New Zealand get it on 5 February.
Metro 2039 gives the PS5 Pro something useful to prove
The phrase “ray tracing” has spent years doing unpaid labour for screenshots. Reflections become cleaner, shadows become softer, and players are then asked to choose between the fancy lighting and a stable frame rate. Metro 2039 promising both at 60fps is the part that matters.
4A’s official technical note says the studio’s proprietary 4A Engine builds on the 60fps ray-traced work of Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition. It also explicitly includes the standard PS5 in that claim, which prevents the Pro from turning the smoother mode into an expensive velvet rope.
That makes this an interesting answer to POPTOPIC’s earlier scepticism about whether the PlayStation 5 Pro justifies its premium. The stronger machine still needs to show a visible advantage, but a dense world with dynamic destruction, radiation effects and ray-traced lighting is at least proper material for the test.
The Stranger is built for uglier choices
The new protagonist is a former Spartan who left the tunnels and never intended to return. The official game description identifies Hunter as the fanatical leader of the Novoreich regime, ruling the Metro through fear and propaganda while preparing a new war for the surface.
The Stranger is presented as adaptable, brutal and burdened by waking nightmares. In the footage, he manages radiation and equipment while moving between silent Shatun rifle shots, Molotovs and a close-range Duplet shotgun. The apartment blocks around him crumble during the fight, making the environment feel dangerous before a mutant even turns up.
4A still calls it a solo, story-driven first-person shooter. That is reassuringly unfashionable. The studio is not using “open” environments as a euphemism for chores; its showcase sequence is a route through a thickly detailed space where stealth, exploration and violence overlap.
The Australian date deserves an asterisk
PlayStation’s headline says 4 February, while its regional footnote moves Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia to 5 February. The Steam page currently lists only February 2027. Australian players should therefore treat Friday the fifth as the confirmed local date unless the PlayStation Store later displays something different.
The local detail is small, but it is the sort of small print that creates midnight-launch confusion. We have already seen how performance uncertainty can dominate conversation around a giant PS5 release apparently targeting 30fps; 4A is wisely setting expectations before Metro 2039 reaches the station.
The footage still needs to represent the finished game, of course. But if 4A delivers ray tracing and 60fps on both consoles, the most impressive PS5 Pro showcase may be the one that refuses to leave ordinary PS5 owners behind.
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