Metro 2039 takes place in post-apocalyptic Moscow in the year 2039. Its story spans the underground Moscow Metro and the shattered, irradiated city above. It is set four years after the events of Metro Exodus and follows a new protagonist, the Stranger, as he returns from exile to the Metro.
The broad setting is confirmed, but the game is still unreleased. The supplied pre-release material does not provide a complete list of playable stations, surface districts, or level boundaries.
The Setting at a Glance
| Detail | Confirmed setting |
|---|---|
| Year | 2039 |
| Main location | Post-apocalyptic Moscow |
| Environments | The Moscow Metro tunnels and settlements, plus ruined surface areas |
| Timeline | Four years after Metro Exodus |
| Protagonist's position | The Stranger returns from the wilderness beyond the city to the Metro |
| Political situation | Hunter's Novoreich has united the Metro under an authoritarian regime |
The Moscow Metro Is the Center of the Setting
The underground Metro is the story's central destination. The official premise describes the remaining population living deep beneath the poisoned city after a quarter century of conflict following nuclear war. By 2039, the stations and tunnel communities have been brought under one banner by Hunter, a Spartan who now leads the Novoreich.
This makes the Metro more than a collection of dark corridors. It is where people live, where the new regime exercises control, and where the conflict over Moscow's future is concentrated. Pre-release footage and published previews show inhabited station spaces as well as dangerous tunnels, reinforcing the return to enclosed underground environments.
A crowded underground station serves as a refuge and gathering place beneath Moscow.
The Surface Is Still Part of the Journey
Metro 2039 is not confined entirely to the subway system. The Stranger begins as a recluse in the wilderness beyond the city. Violent waking nightmares and the return of his past force him toward Moscow and back to the place he had sworn never to enter again: the Metro.
The revealed journey also crosses the shattered ruins and irradiated streets above the tunnels. The surface remains poisoned and dangerous, while the underground provides shelter without offering peace. The result is a setting built around movement between two connected parts of Moscow rather than a story that occurs only below ground.
How Moscow Has Changed Since Metro Exodus
Metro Exodus took Artyom and the Rangers away from Moscow in search of life beyond the tunnels. Metro 2039 returns the mainline story to the city four years later, but it does so from the Stranger's perspective rather than Artyom's.
During that gap, the political order inside the Metro has changed. Previously divided factions and station communities are now presented as united under the Novoreich. Hunter, once known as a Spartan, rules through propaganda and fear while preparing the population for a new war on the surface. That forced unity is the defining social backdrop of the 2039 setting.
A public address inside the station reflects the authoritarian order shaping underground life.
What the Year 2039 Means
The title names the year in which the story occurs. The official premise places it a quarter century after nuclear war left Moscow's surface poisoned and pushed survivors into the Metro. The date also separates this game from Metro 2033: Metro 2039 is a new mainline story, not a remake of the earlier game.
It is also an original game narrative created by 4A Games in collaboration with Metro author Dmitry Glukhovsky. It draws on the wider Metro universe but is not a direct adaptation of a specific novel.
What Remains Unconfirmed Before Release
The available material confirms Moscow, the Metro, the ruined surface, the year 2039, and the four-year gap after Metro Exodus. It does not yet establish the full playable map. Specific station names, every surface district, the exact route through the city, and the proportion of the game spent above or below ground remain unverified in the supplied sources.
Because the current information comes from the pre-release period, individual trailer scenes and preview areas should not be treated as a complete picture of the final game.