From the studio behind Until Dawn and The Quarry comes an immersive cinematic horror experience. Directive 8020 blends intense survival gameplay with a branching narrative storyline featuring Hollywood actor Lashana Lynch (Bob Marley: One Love, The Woman King) as the groundbreaking astronaut ‘Young.'

In a dramatic step forward for the series, the game features persistent real-time threats, all-new stealth gameplay mechanics, and enhanced interactive cinematics powered by Unreal Engine 5.

Earth is dying and humanity is running out of time. 12 light years from home, Tau Ceti f offers a small sliver of hope. When the colony ship Cassiopeia crash lands on the planet, its crew soon realize they are far from being alone.

Hunted by an alien organism capable of mimicking its prey, the crew of the Cassiopeia must outwit their pursuers to make it home alive. As they battle to survive, they are confronted with the hardest choice of all: to save themselves, they must risk the lives of everyone on Earth.

The Turning Points mechanic is a series-first feature gives players the ability to rewind to pivotal points in the story, replaying decisions to unlock different narrative paths, discover missed content, or change outcomes entirely, offering a new level of player control. And for players who want the full-pressure experience, Survivor Mode keeps things unforgiving with no rewinds.

In space, death takes many forms.

Supermassive Games reveals how they’ve enhanced Directive 8020 for PlayStation 5 Pro, and how these upgrades help deepen the tension, clarity, and emotional impact at the heart of the game.

From the very beginning, Directive 8020 was built around cinematic storytelling, player choice, and atmosphere you can feel onboard the deadly mission to Tau Ceti f. Hunted by an alien organism capable of mimicking its prey, the crew of the Cassiopeia must outwit their pursuers to make it home alive.

Sharper visuals powered by PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution 

One of the most noticeable enhancements comes from PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), Sony’s AI-driven upscaling technology.

PSSR intelligently enhances image detail and clarity frame by frame, allowing environments, character models, and subtle environmental storytelling to appear crisp and well-defined. The metallic corridors of the Cassiopeia, the frost forming across a freezing medical lab, the distortion in a reflective visor, all of these details benefit from the added sharpness.

Discover cinematic fidelity with PlayStation 5 Pro

Directive 8020 is a cinematic narrative experience at its core. With the additional rendering power available, we’re able to present scenes with enhanced visual fidelity that supports the emotional weight of each moment.

Character performances, subtle facial animations, and environmental detail all contribute to immersion. When you’re trying to decide who to trust, especially when two identical faces are staring back at you, those visual nuances matter.

Face your fears with advanced ray tracing

Lighting is one of the most powerful storytelling tools in horror.

With advanced ray tracing, light behaves more realistically, bouncing naturally through corridors, reflecting off metallic surfaces, and casting shadows that feel grounded in physical space. Emergency strobes flare against bulkheads. Firelight flickers dynamically across a character’s face. Ice refracts light in a way that feels cold and unforgiving.

Realistic lighting heightens tension in every corridor. You’re never quite sure what’s hiding just beyond the glow.

Dynamic shadows reveal, and conceal, the threat

Shadows aren’t just visual dressing in Directive 8020. They’re part of the language of fear.

Dynamic shadow detail adds depth and movement to scenes, making environments feel less static and more unpredictable. A shifting silhouette might be nothing… or it might be an alien hunter watching.

The added richness in shadow rendering enhances atmosphere in subtle but powerful ways, reinforcing the unease that runs through the entire experience.

Smooth performance where every decision counts

Performance isn’t just about numbers on a spec sheet, it’s about emotional timing.

Directive 8020 is built around split-second decisions that permanently shape your story. When Anders is freezing in a failing medical lab and Mitchel is trapped in an inferno elsewhere on the ship, you don’t have time to deliberate forever. Your instinct takes over.

Or when you’re faced with two identical versions of the same crew member, both claiming to be real, who do you trust?

Smooth, consistent performance ensures those moments land exactly as intended. Inputs feel immediate. Camera movement remains fluid. Cinematic transitions hold their impact. The tension builds naturally, without technical friction pulling you out of it.

In a choice-driven narrative game, responsiveness is part of storytelling.

Designed with PlayStation 5 in mind

Beyond visual enhancements, Directive 8020 was designed to make full use of PlayStation 5 features, particularly the DualSense controller. Especially due to the Supermassive legacy from Until Dawn in those tense “Don’t Move” moments from the PlayStation 3.

We wanted interactions to feel instinctive in Directive 8020:

• You’ll instinctively reach for your flashlight in a pitch-black corridor.
• You’ll scan a room before entering a hatch.
• You’ll grab the wedge tool at the last possible second.

All without taking your eyes off the danger around you.

Haptic feedback puts the fear in your hands during choices and while using tools. The DualSense’s audio output crackles as a way for distant characters to communicate to you from across the vast ship through the messenger tool.

Our goal was simple: make the controller your tool for survival and fully immerse you in the world, to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Key Features

• Next-Gen Cinematic Survival Horror: Experience immersive cinematic storytelling and edge-of-your-seat horror on a deep space mission to save humanity.
• Real-Time Alien Threats: Evade a deadly alien threat that roams the dark corridors of the ship, intent on eradicating human life. Overcome your enemies using improvised weapons, lightning reflexes, and stealth. 
• ALIEN INVASION: The colony ship Cassiopeia is infected with an alien organism, capable of transforming into any member of the crew. While you may be human, others in your crew may not be, and killers can hide behind familiar eyes. New stealth mechanics have been added to help players evade these deadly foes: you must keep your wits about you as enemies can emerge from unexpected places, and you’ll need to sneak and hide to get past these deadly alien stalkers.
• BRAVE RECRUITS: Introducing the Cassiopeia’s crew. You’ll control five crew members over the course of this expedition, but as paranoia and fear builds, so does distrust. With their lives in your hands, your decisions will determine not only the crew’s fate, but all of humanity's, too.  
• NEW MECHANICS: Directive 8020 introduces several new tools. Throughout the game, you can use these to locate secrets, solve puzzles and overcome enemies. The mission is all about survival, so every tool has its purpose in helping you think on your feet and stay alive.
  •  The Flashlight – As is to be expected from our games, you’ll spend a lot of time creeping around in the dark! Just be careful when using your flashlight, as aliens can spot the beam.
  •  The Scanner – You'll have a scanner at your disposal for detecting electronics and remotely activating systems, helping to distract enemies and overcome obstacles.
  •  The Messenger – Your messenger lets you communicate and strategize with crewmates while staying under the radar.
  •  The Wedge Tool – Made for opening doors… but as a last resort, can also be used as a weapon to temporarily stun enemies, giving you a chance to slip away and evade death.

Pre-order Directive 8020 now to secure your free Deluxe Edition upgrade

Pre-orders are available now on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and at participating retail stores (while retail stocks last), with Steam digital pre-orders coming soon. Pre-orders include access to:

• The Dark Pictures Outfit Pack
• The Dark Pictures Collectables
• Cinematic Filter Pack
• Digital Soundtrack
• Digital Artbook

Directive 8020 is coming to for PC (Steam), PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on May 12, 2026.