Summary
The latest Sony State of Play broadcast has set an official July 30, 2025, launch date forMetro Awakening VR. The VR-native shooter is a spin-off in the popularMetroshooter series and was first announced in February 2024 for the PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest 2 and 3, Viveport, and Steam VR.
Based on a sci-fi novel series by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, theMetroseries has maintained enduring popularity since its original launch in 2010. Developer 4A Games crafted an engaging, bleakly dystopian post-apocalyptic world, where the remnants of civilization survive a nuclear holocaust by colonizing Moscow’s extensive network of subterranean train tunnels. TheMetrogames also maintain unique and unusual game upgrade systems, withMetro 2033using bullets as both ammunition and currency andMetro Exodusoffering surprisingly deep weapon modifications and crafting options.
Come November, developer Vertigo Games will have a chance to take the unforgettable, tense atmosphere of theMetroseries timelinestraight into players' faces, in the form ofMetro Awakening VR. The game’s latest trailer confirms its release date of July 25, 2025, and sheds more light on the story.
The rest of this article contains minor spoilers for parts of the Metro series and characters that appear in the games.
Metro Awakening VR Tells the Story of an Important Series Figure
The new release date trailer forMetro Awakening VRreveals that the game follows the origin story of the character Khan, who is a mysterious and powerful figure hidden in the shadows of theMetroseries games. InMetro 2033andLast Light, Khan is an enigmatic figure that helps protagonist Artyom through the tunnels and even cameos in one of theendings ofMetro Exodus. The VR gameclarifies that Khan wasn’t always Khan. Instead, he was a survivor named Serdar and is pushed by the events of the game to the edge of his sanity on his journey to rescue a loved one named Yana.
Metro Awakening VRalso promises to use the immersive nature of VR presentation to amplify the sense of tension and paranoia in the story. Using motion controllers, the footage shows players “holding” weapons directly, manually reloading them, and using their virtual hands to check gear and don things like gas masks or monitor radiation. Other, more unsettling phenomena are also teased, like apparitions, ghosts, and mysterious noises, contributing to the sense that the player is inhabiting Serdar on his way to “awakening” as Khan.
Metro Awakening VRlooks like a promising, VR-based side story in theMetrofranchise. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’ll be accessible to players without VR hardware for the time being.Metrofans uninterested in VR games needn’t worry, though, as anew mainlineMetrogame is in development under 4A Games, targeted for eventual release on consoles and PC, without a VR requirement.
Metro
A post-apocalyptic franchise based on the novels from Russian writer Dmitry Glukhovsky. Includes games like Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, and Metro: Exodus. A VR title called Metro: Awakening is also launching on the PS VR2.
