If you have been following the development of Directive 8020, the next horror project to come from developer Supermassive Games, you may notice that the title has dropped its The Dark Pictures tag. It is simply now known as Directive 8020 and not The Dark Pictures: Directive 8020 as it initially was, and there's actually a very good reason for this.
In a recent interview with Supermassive Games, we inquired as to the reason behind this change, to which creative director, Will Doyle, explained that it's mostly in an effort to make the messaging more clear and evident to fans both new and old.
"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. So yes - 100% Dark Pictures.
"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."
Directive 8020 is on the horizon with plans to launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on May 12. With the debut right around the corner, you can read our full interview with Supermassive Games here.