Directive 8020 preview: «Horror is our top priority»

Domagoj Belancic

27.4.2026

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

Directive 8020 is the most ambitious project from British studio Supermassive to date. I tested the spooky spectacle before launch and had a chat with the development team.

Supermassive Games is known for experiences that feel like interactive horror movies. In 2015, the studio scored a cult hit with Until Dawn, winning the hearts of many horror fans with its trashy teen slasher vibe. A stroke of genius that Supermassive was never quite able to replicate with the subsequent Dark Pictures anthology.

Directive 8020 aims to change that and breathe new life into the outdated horror flick formula. Supermassive wants to offer its fans more excitement, more interactivity and more freedom of choice. The sci-fi setting aboard spaceship Cassiopeia should also breathe new life into the Dark Pictures universe. But will this work out?

At a preview event in London, I got to try the game out, get scared and make some dumb decisions – two of my crew members nearly died within minutes. I also spoke with Lead Producer Hannah Sigston about the development process and the studio’s ambitions.

Note: You’ll find a little contest at the end of this preview.

«Science fiction’s great»

My demo begins with a meeting in the spaceship’s control room. The entire crew has come together to discuss the current situation. And to put it mildly, it’s a pretty sucky one.

Earth is dying, and colony ship Cassiopeia represents humanity’s last hope, sent on an exploratory trip to distant planet Tau Ceti f. Things go just as you’d expect in a horror game: the spaceship crashes and the crew’s stranded on an alien planet with no contact with Earth.

Resources are scarce, as is the oxygen supply. One crew member has already lost it, murdered another and disappeared. Great. Just great.

The employees at Supermassive are huge sci-fi fans. So it’s only logical that the studio would eventually tackle a game in this genre. As Hannah puts it: «Science-fiction’s great – so many different classics inspired us. Event Horizon and Alien, just to name two. But we sought out plenty books and games too. It’s a huge genre, with an incredible range of content.»

Hannah’s eyes light up; her enthusiasm for the topic is contagious. She continues: «Sci-fi is also perfect for Dark Pictures, since it provides an exciting contrast.» You’re in space, a vast, all-encompassing and intimidating place – yet at the same time, you’re confined to a small spaceship. It’s extremely intimate, claustrophobic and all the more intense for it.»

After the control room briefing, I take on the role of astronaut Brianna Young, played by Lashana Lynch (No Time to Die, One Love). My goal: to find renegade crew member Simms and bring him to justice.

Apparently, Simms is somewhere in the engine room. After scrambling through ventilation shafts for a few minutes, I find the missing murderer. However, she seems… well, not quite as lively as she used to be.

But wait… if Simms is already dead, then who killed the other crew member? And who killed Simms?

DUN DUN DUUUUUUN!

The crew isn’t alone – there’s an alien life form stalking around the ship. And it can mimic the appearance of other crew members. John Carpenter’s The Thing clearly served as another source of inspiration.

This ever-present, intangible threat also forms the basis for the biggest gameplay innovations in the series to date.

«Horror comes first»

After my shocking discovery, the alien creature attacks me disguised as a human. It chases me through action-packed cutscenes until we both fall through a window to the floor below. Then something happens that feels new for a Dark Pictures game. I have to escape from danger in real time – no Quick Time Events (QTEs) or other interruptions.

I sneak around the obstacles, trying to avoid the shape-shifter’s murderous glare. The stealth mechanics feel good and the controls are well-designed. Directive 8020 is no longer «just» an interactive film, but a fully-fledged game as well.

Hannah explains: «Directive 8020 is the first Supermassive game where you have complete control. We created large open-world areas where you can move around freely. Another new feature is that you can die while exploring – not just during scripted scenes or failed QTEs.»

The reason for this radical change is the new setting: «Given the sci-fi horror setting, it felt natural to take this next step and introduce real-time stealth mechanics. The central idea: here’s a spaceship – go ahead and explore it. Oh, and by the way: something’s trying to kill you. Good luck. Everything came together quite organically during the design process – from the level design to the monsters to the control systems.»

By changing the gameplay for Directive 8020, Supermassive is looking to create the scariest Dark Pictures game to date. Hannah explains: «For the mechanics, we followed a core idea: horror comes first. You’re not controlling soldiers, but frightened scientists. You don’t run around with an assault rifle; instead, you sneak around and desperately try to survive – with very limited resources.»

One of these resources is the so-called Wedge Tool. Using this power tool, you can hack into devices to create a distraction, open locked doors and attack the alien with electric shocks. These attacks won’t kill the creature – at most, it’ll be stunned briefly so you can escape.

During my demo time, the creature steals one of these tools. I’m left standing there defenceless and desperate. Hannah smiles, loving it: «That exact feeling of not being able to defend yourself is central to the game. That’s where the tension comes from; it’s where the horror comes from.»

I ask her if I can take a more aggressive approach against the alien later in the game. She laughs and says, «We want to keep you on the defensive – constantly under pressure, always one step behind the threat. Later on, you might think you’ve figured out how the creature works. Maybe you even think you have the situation under control. And right at that moment, we’ll pull the rug out from under you.»

Do Turning Points ruin the magic?

Despite the added interactivity, Supermassive wanted to make sure Directive 8020 still feels like an interactive horror movie at its core: «All the classic elements our games are known for are still there. Cinematic direction, hard choices and narrative branches.»

I can confirm this. The new gameplay elements don’t replace old ones – they’re welcome additions that breathe new life into the outdated formula. During the roughly 45-minute preview, I spent only a small portion on the stealth section, about a third. The rest is classic Dark Pictures gameplay: cutscenes, dialogue, QTEs and tough decisions.

Speaking of difficult choices, I’m still sceptical about one new feature to the core gameplay: Turning Points.

Hannah explains the system to me: «With Turning Points, you can see the entire course of the story unfold before you – including every decision you’ve made. As you play, this decision tree updates in real time. You can see where you took a different path – and where there might have been other options. And you can always rewind to try out different choices.»

A radical move for a game series that thrives on tough decisions. I want to find out why the studio decided to make this change. «We put so much work into branching paths that many players will never see. That’s why we wanted to make it as easy as possible for our fans to discover all our content. Here’s the whole game – check out everything it has to offer.»

I get their reasoning. For choice-based games, I always check out the alternative endings on YouTube after I’ve finished playing through the game. Now, I can easily experience it all in-game. Still, I’m not convinced yet.

I ask Hannah whether Turning Points undermine the significance of decisions and, as a result, the magic of the game. She answers: «That’s something we’ve been thinking about. It’s why you can also disable Turning Points entirely and play in Survivor Mode, where all decisions are final.»

Hannah goes on: «At the same time, we believe that the significance of these decisions is preserved through Turning Points. You never see where an alternative choice leads. Your second choice might be even worse than your first decision. On top of that, many consequences don’t become apparent until later in the game. One choice made at the start of the game may not have an impact until hours later.»

Another thing I noticed in the demo that I really like: rewinding using Turning Points doesn’t automatically mean that an alternative choice is handed to you on a silver platter. Because some apparent decisions are related to the new real-time gameplay.

Here’s how this plays out: during one stealth section, I get spotted by the alien. It promptly gouges out Brianna’s eye with the Wedge Tool – a cutscene so gross that I had to look away. So, I rewind and try again. Unsuccessfully. I once again turn into a one-eyed pirate. Sorry Brianna, I tried. But you’ll have to make do with just one eye from now on, at least in this playthrough.

«I hope our players are scared stiff»

I end the demo with one eye missing. Another crew member was also attacked in a different scene – stabbed in the abdomen. But hey, they both (barely) survived. Mission accomplished, I’d say.

As a reward for my sensational performance, I watch the closing credits: «End of Episode 4: Dragnet.» It’s accompanied by the song Now That We’re Alone by The People’s Thieves.

Now what’s this about? Hannah explains: «The game isn’t structured like a single, long interactive movie, but is divided into eight shorter episodes. At the end of each episode, closing credits underscore the character of the series. Each episode stands on its own, with its own story beats and narrative arc. At the same time, it fits into the overarching story.»

Hannah draws an interesting comparison: «Directive 8020 is meant to feel like an intense HBO show, with natural breaks that allow you to take a breather. Or you could binge-watch all eight episodes, like me.»

It’s no coincidence that Hannah’s using prestigious HBO productions as a point of comparison. As I play the game, I can sense the studio’s lofty ambitions. Time and again, I notice how much better the whole experience feels compared to previous Dark Pictures titles. The dialogue feels more natural, the actors are consistently convincing and the editing and surprises are spot-on. This isn’t some trashy horror flick, but a polished sci-fi horror drama.

The demo impresses me visually too. I keep stopping and thinking to myself, «Damn, that looks beautiful.» The character models are impressive, with ultra-realistic skin and hair; the animations look better than ever and the lighting is absolutely stunning. It all feels really high-end and well-made.

This makes sense. Compared to the annual release schedule of previous Dark Pictures games, Supermassive has taken its time with Directive 8020. The last game in the series was released in 2022.

I want to know if the studio was able to accomplish everything it set out to do with its additional resources. Hannah grins happily: «We’ve pretty much achieved all our goals, yes. Our focus in this game was clearly on stealth and real-time encounters with the alien. An enormous amount of time and thought has gone into these systems.»

The new system also presented the studio with major challenges: «This new focus had a major impact on production and the overall game design. Suddenly, there was an additional, complex system that we had to take into account everywhere. At the same time, that very thing has opened up many new opportunities for us. We were able to implement things that hadn’t been done in the series before.»

Finally, I want to know what kind of a reaction Hannah’s hoping for when the game comes out – and I get a refreshingly direct answer: «I hope our players are scared stiff,» Hannah says with a laugh.

«I want those shocking moments to really hit home, and the jump scares to land. When people look back on the game, I want them to say, 'Oh yeah, they really had me there.' Then we’ll have achieved our goal.»

Directive 8020 will be released on 12 May for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Supermassive invited me to its preview event in London and covered my travel expenses.

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Domagoj Belancic

Senior Editor

Domagoj.Belancic@digitecgalaxus.ch

My love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.

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