Directive 8020 is the next chilling, yet standalone, story set within Supermassive Games' The Dark Pictures Anthology universe. Along with getting the chance to play a hands-on preview of the title ahead of its May 12, 2026, launch, we were also given the opportunity to speak with the game's Creative Director, Will Doyle.
Hello and thank you for taking the time to speak with me! My name is Ben, and I'm one of the co-founders of Netto's Game Room. Before we begin, could you introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m Will Doyle, Creative Director of Directive 8020.
Supermassive Games has released many titles over the years, but more recently you've been known for The Dark Pictures Anthology. While the first official release in this series was 2019's Man of Medan, this style of games actually goes back to your time working with Sony Interactive Entertainment on Until Dawn. Since then, how would you say your games have evolved over time?
Our games are always evolving. We always wanted the Dark Pictures to be more than just new stories - over time we have added to our feature set, but the extended dev time we’ve had for Directive 8020 has really given us a chance to push the series into the next generation with two big major two features: Turning Points and Real Time Threats. It’s also the first game we’ve developed for Unreal 5, which has really pushed the visual bar and made the game extremely immersive.
Directive 8020 features a sci-fi setting and takes place 12 light-years from Earth after the colony ship Cassiopeia crash lands on Tau Ceti f. Though it is still within the same universe as The Dark Pictures, do you feel the new location given the team additional freedom compared to previous entries? Maybe allowing you to do things that wouldn't naturally fit into what came before?
Each of the Dark Pictures games have drawn on a different genre of horror – this time we wanted to take you into space! Setting Directive 8020 in space has given us so many opportunities to scare players. For a lot of the game the player will be based in the claustrophobic environment of the spaceship Cassiopea. And even when not, the threat is very real. Remember that Space is terrifying, as you’re effectively surrounded by death. Everything beyond the walls of your bubble is hostile to human life. This makes it a perfect setting for a horror story.
When developing the game, what would you say has been the biggest influence on you and the team? Anything that might surprise players?
John Carpenter’s “The Thing” was big influence. That shapeshifting monster and isolated environment really resonated when we were creating Directive 8020. Also, the theme of who do you trust works so well with the choice and relationship mechanics in our game. But this story takes inspiration from a lot of different movies – Aliens, Sunshine, Life. Also from books such as H.P. Lovecraft’s “Mountains of Madness.
Although previous titles you've released contain horror survival elements, for Directive 8020 it was previously stated the team would be doubling down on such elements, and refining the overall experience. This includes giving players the freedom to explore the world, combat and stealth sections that can be the matter of life or death for our characters. Could you tell us a little more about these additions to the gameplay?
Yes, there are many new and improved mechanics in Directive 8020.
I’ll split them into action and narrative. For our action fans, we are including real-time threats for the first time. Characters are under threat throughout the game from terrifying alien hunters and mimic crewmates who can hunt you down as you explore the ship. As you play the game you need to be aware that at any time you could be under threat. The game also has a set of high-tech tools: a “wedge tool” to unlock electronic doors, a scanner to highlight electronics, and a remote control to activate machines from a distance. All these tools can help you when facing your enemies.
For our narrative fans, we are providing Turning Points - this allows players to rewind and revisit key decisions, tailoring the experience to different playstyles. Whether uncovering every possible outcome or braving the story with no second chances, Turning Points gives players greater control over how they survive the horrors of deep space.
One thing players might be interested to hear is the fact that multiplayer mode Movie Night will in fact be returning. How has this feature has been adapted for Directive 8020's new gameplay mechanics?
Couch co-op is our classic “Movie Night” experience, where up to five players take turns controlling the cast and playing the game together to survive the story. And with the threats players face in Directive 8020 this may not be as easy as you think! In couch co-op, you only need one controller, which is passed around the room as different turns come into play. In our previous Dark Pictures games, this was a very popular way of playing.
We are currently working on online support for couch-co-op,so you can play together with your friends across different homes. This needs a little longer to finish and will be available as a free download shortly after launch.
In Directive 8020 your mistakes can lead to the death of the main characters. Rather than leading to a Game Over, the story will continue on, and branch off down different paths. Besides this, are there other ways players can change the outcome of the story, without losing a character along the way?
Yes, you’re right, the story continues. However for the first time in a Dark Pictures game were are giving players the chance to rewind and make a different choice.
The Turning Points system is a visual map of the game’s choices that is available every time you pause the game. You’ll be able to see all the beats of the story portrayed as a decision tree with your path taken through it shown. And then, at any time, you can rewind to these points.
First off, we know that many of our players love to live or die based on their choices. So, if you want to play the original way, where every choice is irreversible, we have a survivor mode that lets you see the decision tree but turns off rewinds. No second chances here! But for other players, they have the freedom to rewind whenever they want.
We added Turning Points for a couple of reasons. One is to help people to see all the content we make. We know people play through our games and then often give it multiple shots to come back in and try to find out all the different branches. So, it’s just really showing players that there’s an easier way to access these different points.
Also, it’s a way to save your favourite characters if they die. We know that our players often quit when this happens, so it’s a useful tool to prevent that and let people enjoy the story.
Previously it was announced there would be multiple difficulty settings and options for players of all skill levels. Will such settings have an impact on the story, and how much will players be able to customize their experience by using them?
Allowing players to play the game how they want was a big aim for the team. Directive 8020 does feature intense encounters with real-time threats, but these moments can be tailored to your liking using difficulty and accessibility settings. On the easiest difficulty setting, your character can always exploit a very forgiving parry mechanic when cornered. We also offer a custom difficulty mode where you can tailor the encounters to your own preferences – for example, playing QTEs on Hard, but setting the parries for real-time threats to Easy.
Speaking of the story, how challenging has it been to find the perfect cast to bring your characters to life? When writing, do you already have a definitive vision for these characters, or do the actors' performances help shape their final identities?
We cast our games like movies (including using a Casting Agency) as we know how important it is to get the right actor and right performance. Lashana Lynch, who has appeared in the Marvel and Bond universes, was perfect as the star of Directive 8020 and really bought the character of Young to life. We’re so proud to have had two Oscar winners appear in our games - Rami Malek (Until Dawn) and Jessie Buckley (The Devil in Me). Who knows maybe Lashana will join them?
Without going into spoilers, Directive 8020 was originally teased in The Devil in Me—should fans be on the lookout for clues to your next project here as well? Or maybe Easter eggs and callbacks to previous titles?
We had Easter Eggs for Directive 8020 in our first Dark Pictures game (Man of Medan in 2019) as well as teases for future games - so we’d always advise fans to keep an eye out!
Is there anything else you'd like to let our readers know before release?
I think the main thing is that Directive 8020 is very much a Dark Pictures game. Directive 8020 is set in the same shared world as our other titles. It is an intense, branching narrative game where your choices matter and you control a cast of characters where everyone can live or die. The deluxe edition of the game features costumes sets and collectible dolls that highlight characters and monsters from our previous Dark Pictures games.
We are delighted to continue the series, but after a short break we wanted to ensure that our messaging is clear for our audiences. After we wrapped season 1 of the Dark Pictures Anthology, we did an extensive player research study in preparation for Directive 8020. This study revealed that many newcomers thought that they had to play through our games sequentially – partially due to terms like “Season.”
For Directive 8020, we have settled on the tagline “A Dark Pictures Game”, which tells our fans that it is part of the shared universe, without suggesting that it is an essential follow-on to other games in the series.
And before we go, we like to ask one "for fun" question! In this case, when working on horror games, do you ever find yourself getting jump scared by your own work, or have you become desensitized by this point?
We can become desensitised, which is why it’s always great to see how our test groups respond to the game. That said, some of our team are very jumpy and will still be shocked by the same scare every time!
Thanks again for taking the time out of your busy schedule! I look forward to see the game launch this May.
Thanks! Hope you enjoy it.
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