Directive 8020 is a 2026 interactive drama and survival horror video game developed and published by Supermassive Games. It is the fifth game in The Dark Pictures series. Taking place on a colony spaceship called Cassiopeia, the crew crash lands on Tau Ceti f, a planet 12 light-years from Earth, where they must survive a shapeshifting alien threat. Lashana Lynch, who plays astronaut and co-pilot Brianna Young, was marketed as the game's leading actress. It released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 12 May.
Directive 8020 features a multilinear plot in which decisions can significantly alter the trajectory of the story and change the relationships between the five playable protagonists; some decisions lead to their permanent deaths. It also introduces a new feature called Turning Points, which allows players to rewind to a pivotal moment or decision.
The game received mixed reviews from critics, with praise going towards its improvements over its predecessors, such as the visuals, sound design, the "Turning Points" system, and its attempts to improve the gameplay, but criticised the stealth mechanics and sections, and a polarising narrative.
Gameplay Directive 8020 is an interactive drama and survival horror game presented from a third-person perspective. Player control switches between the five protagonists, the crew of a colony ship called Cassiopeia. The crew are supposed to survey Tau Ceti f from space in order to gather information for another colony ship that is traveling six months behind. Tau Ceti f is a planet that is 12 light-years from Earth, and has become humanity's last hope because Earth is dying, but the Cassiopeia crash lands onto the Tau Ceti f. The surviving crew members are scattered after being brought out of hypersleep early. The game is divided up into eight episodes that each take around an hour to complete. To build tension throughout the episodic structure, most chapters feature flashforwards that depict the characters in future life-and-death scenarios. There are "a handful" of optional objectives based on the branching of the game that can be based on previous decisions or have new consequences if the player undertakes them. In addition to immediate life-or-death choices, Directive 8020 introduces a "Destinies" system. Rather than relying solely on pass/fail action sequences, a character's overarching narrative arc and final fate are influenced by the long-term relationship dynamics they form with other crew members.
Directive 8020 features quick time events (QTEs) like the previous games in the series, but it also includes live combat in order to "increase the danger as much as possible". Creative director Will Doyle said the game is not about fighting the aliens, but about evading them with stealth because the player does not have a gun or anything like that to defend themselves. Players must stay quietly in the shadows, avoiding detection. Supermassive calls it "threatening exploration", a mechanic where characters can be killed dynamically outside of scripted story events. Doyle originally pitched this concept during the development of House of Ashes (2021), but the studio's strict annual release schedule prevented the necessary structural changes from being implemented until Directive 8020. Optionally, accessibility options include a "safe" mode that ensures players always survive the stealth sections, but can still die in other ways. The game also features multiple difficulty levels and options for players who want varying experiences. Stealth sequences feature varied scenarios, including using security cameras to safely guide another character. If an enemy detects a character during these sections, it does not always result in an immediate death; instead, the failure can trigger a new branching narrative path.
The inventory system consists of tools that are linked to a "multifunctional utility strap" on the wrists of the characters. The strap also contains a shoulder mounted flashlight, with the enemies able to spot the beam when the light is on. Other tools include a scanner that can scan for electronics or be used to spot an alien that is capable of mimicking the appearances of the crew, a "wedge tool" that can be used to open a door as a last resort or to stun an enemy, a text messenger, and a remote control that lets the player hack computers from a distance. Character movement has been reworked to feel "smoother on the sticks" according to Doyle, allowing characters to sprint and vault over obstacles while exploring the ship.
The game introduces Turning Points, which is a feature that allows players to rewind to a pivotal moment or decision. Optionally, players can go the traditional Dark Pictures route and play survival mode which prevents rewinding, but still enables players to view the decision trees. Executive producer Dan McDonald said that Turning Points were added due to the new threat in exploration which adds more chances for a character to die and Supermassive felt that could lead to frustration for players who just want to explore. The feature was also implemented to mitigate player frustration regarding the game's mimic enemies. Because a character can secretly be replaced by a mimic for a significant portion of the game without the player realising, the rewind system allows players to undo long-term mistakes that lead to bleak endings. Turning Points do not overwrite progress, so players can continue where they were if they do not like what they did. The Curator does not have a large role in the game, being more in the background despite his connections to the series, with McDonald saying "the Curator's office with all its leather and books and maps didn't mesh as well with Directive 8020 setting."
The multiplayer mode "Movie Night" returns from the previous games in the series. It accommodates up to five players in couch co-op or for the first time in the series, the mode can be played online. Players can also mix and match between couch co-op and online. The online version will be added as a free update post launch on all platforms.
Synopsis Setting and prologue In the 2060s, the Corinth corporation constructs a pair of interstellar colonisation vessels, the Cassiopeia and Andromeda, to explore and colonise the planet Tau Ceti f. The Cassiopeia is scheduled to arrive first to survey the planet, with the Andromeda following six months later. Near the end of the Cassiopeia four year voyage, the ship is struck by a meteorite that breaches the hull and introduces an unknown organic growth into the vessel. The game's prologue follows Tomas Carter and Pari Simms, who are overseeing the ship while the rest of the crew remains in hypersleep. The pair investigate the damage and are later separated; when Carter eventually reunites with Simms, she behaves erratically and murders him.
Characters The game's five protagonists are Brianna Young (Lashana Lynch), an astronaut and co-pilot of the colony ship Cassiopeia; the ship's commander, Nolan Stafford (Danny Sapani); senior mission officer Laura Eisele (Lotte Verbeek); medical specialist Samantha Cooper (Anna Leong Brophy); and technical engineer Josef Cernan (Philip Arditti). Other crew members consist of sleep technicians Tomas Carter (Frank Blake) and Pari Simms (Anneika Rose), pilot Noah Mitchell (Colin Bates), and science officer Zoe Anders (Kathryn Wilder). They are also accompanied by LaMarcus Williams (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), the CEO of the Corinth megacorporation that is funding the Cassiopeia mission.
Directive 8020 centres around the paranoia and fracturing trust among the Cassiopeia crew. Tension is heightened by a hostile, shapeshifting alien organism capable of perfectly mimicking the crew members, forcing them into a constant state of suspicion regarding each other's true identities. Furthermore, the narrative explores themes of corporate exploitation; the protagonists' struggle for survival is framed against the revelation that Corinth CEO LaMarcus Williams views the crew as disposable, having intentionally sent unwitting clone crews to their deaths merely to observe and research the alien organism.
Main plot Two days later, Stafford, Young, Eisele, and Mitchell are awakened as planned. Though Simms reports she is still repairing the hull breach, Carter remains missing. Suspicious, Eisele spots Simms and attempts to follow her, only for Simms to attempt to murder her. Eisele manages to escape and discovers Carter's mutilated corpse. The crew is shocked at Carter's death, but have to prepare to decelerate the Cassiopeia to enter Tau Ceti f's orbit. Unfortunately, the alien growth disables the ship's control systems, causing it to crash land on Tau Ceti f and potentially killing Stafford. The rest of the crew are then awakened and briefed on the situation, and they decide to search the ship for Simms. Cooper and Anders team up, and can possibly find a recording left behind by Simms stating that all data from the previous unmanned Charybdis expedition has been locked down, as well as a recording left by Carter that confirms Simms murdered him. The crew continues their search, eventually discovering the alien growth spreading through the ship. Despite Anders' protests, Williams orders the crew to retrieve a sample for research.
After assessing the damage to the ship, the crew determines their only hope of survival is holding out until the Andromeda arrives in six months. While Cernan tries to repair communications and Anders studies the alien growth, Young and Cooper continue the hunt for Simms, where Young potentially discovers Simms' corpse. They manage to kill the imposter Simms, but the alien growth continues to spread through the entire ship. After the lab and hydroponics are mysteriously sabotaged, preventing experimentation on how to destroy the alien growth and limiting the ship's air supply, the crew are shocked to discover that the alien growth has been creating copies of them that suddenly begin attacking. Any surviving crew flee to the bridge, which contains the only scanner capable of proving they are human. After taking refuge in the bridge, they are contacted by a drone from a Charybdis probe. Realizing that they can use the probe's transmitter to send a message to the Andromeda, they head out to repair it, finding that the alien growth is also present on the planet's surface. The crew manages to send out a transmission, but are alarmed to find messages sent from previous versions of themselves as well as the wrecks of other Cassiopeia ships.