4A Games

0:02 4A Games is the developer of every mainline Metro game, Metro 2039 included: a studio founded in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2005 "by game industry veterans" who broke away from GSC Game World near the end of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s development, and headquartered in Sliema, Malta, since 2014. Most of its team still works in Ukraine: about 150 of its 200-plus staff in February 2025. It made Metro 2033 (2010), Metro: Last Light (2013), the Metro Redux remasters (2014), the VR shooter Arktika.1 (2017) and Metro Exodus (2019), all on its own 4A Engine, and its next game, Metro 2039, comes out on Feb 4, 2027, published by Deep Silver. The war that shaped that game is on Metro 2039 and the War in Ukraine.

Quick facts

Sources: 4A Games; 4A Games, Nov 25, 2020; 4A Games, Feb 28, 2025; Embracer Group, Aug 13, 2020.

Who makes the Metro games?

0:11 4A Games develops them and Deep Silver publishes them. THQ published Metro 2033; after THQ's bankruptcy, Koch Media, Deep Silver's parent, bid $5.8 million for the Metro franchise in January 2013 and Deep Silver has published every Metro game since, now as "a division of PLAION". The one Metro game 4A did not make is the VR prequel Metro Awakening (2024), developed by Vertigo Games. Novelist Dmitry Glukhovsky has worked with 4A on the stories from the start; 4A found his free web novel and approached him before it was printed.

From GSC Game World to Kyiv

4A names four founders: Andrew "Prof" Prokhorov, Alex (Oles) Shyshkovtsov, Aleksandr Maksymchuk and Andrew Tkachenko, a small group that left GSC Game World during S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s final stages. Embracer's acquisition release counts three GSC alumni. When Metro 2033 shipped in March 2010 the studio had about 60 people, all in Kyiv. 4A and Embracer both give 2005 as the founding year; Deep Silver's Metro 2039 page also says founded in Kyiv in 2005.

Why is 4A Games in Malta?

The move was announced in May 2014, two months after Russia annexed Crimea, and 4A's leadership landed in Malta on Aug 19, 2014. Prokhorov wrote that leaving was needed, "otherwise 4A Games will cease to exist", and that "4A Games Malta is a Ukrainian company"; head of business development Dean Sharpe praised Malta's incentives. The headquarters moved with over 50 team members and their families. The founders formed 4A Games Limited, and Metro Exodus was made through an outsourcing arrangement with 4A Games Ukraine, led from Malta.

Kyiv today and Reburn

After Exodus and its DLC, 4A Games Limited opened another Kyiv studio, and the old 4A Games Ukraine kept its own project, La Quimera, as a separate company renamed Reburn. 4A said in February 2025 that it was "not rebranding" and is the same team that made Metro, with the same founders and leadership. In March 2025 it counted over 200 staff in two locations, about 150 developers in Kyiv and the headquarters in Sliema. GamesRadar+ describes 4A working primarily out of its headquarters in Kyiv and a support studio in Malta. For Metro 2039 the team includes members from over 25 countries. A second new game, not Metro, was in development in February 2025.

Who owns 4A Games?

Reports conflict, and 4A itself names no owner. Embracer Group bought 100% of 4A Games through its subsidiary Saber Interactive on Aug 13, 2020, for about $36 million upfront and up to $80 million in all with earn-outs. When Saber split from Embracer in March 2024, IGN listed 4A among the studios Embracer kept, with Metro's long-term license and publishing rights held by Embracer's Plaion, but also reported that Saber's new owner Beacon Interactive held an option to buy 4A and, per Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, decided to. 4A's February 2025 update says only that the Malta team works on Metro "under contract with Deep Silver and Plaion". As of Nov 3, 2026 this page has no maker statement settling it.

The 4A Engine

0:26 Every 4A game runs on the studio's own engine, developed since the studio opened in 2005. Metro Exodus was an early ray tracing pioneer, as 4A recalls it, and its PC Enhanced Edition of May 6, 2021 required ray tracing hardware. For Metro 2039, executive producer Jon Bloch says 4A "rebuilt our render from the ground up to be fully ray traced"; Wccftech reports there is no ray tracing toggle. A free editor, the Exodus SDK, opened the engine to modders in January 2023. Metro 2039's tech is on Metro 2039 Platforms and PC Requirements. The clip is Digital Foundry's Apr 2021 analysis of the Enhanced Edition.

4A Games' games

Sources: Metacritic; IGN, Jun 25, 2014; 4A Games, Oct 11, 2017; 4A Games, Nov 25, 2020; 4A Games, May 6, 2021.

Deep Silver says Metro games have sold 50 million copies worldwide (Oct 1, 2026); figures per game are on Metro Series Sales. A free Next-Gen Update for Metro Redux arrived in October 2026.

The people behind Metro 2039

The names in Metro 2039's coverage are creative director Andriy "mLs" Shevchenko (Wccftech calls him game director), co-creative director and lead audio designer Pavel Ulmer (Xbox Wire writes Pawel), executive producer Jon Bloch and head of brand Robbie Cooke. Dean Sharpe was 4A's CEO at the 2020 acquisition. Co-founder Andrew Prokhorov, the studio's creative director, suffered a stroke in 2018 and had returned as Exodus was finished.

Frequently asked questions

Who makes the Metro games? 4A Games, a studio founded in Kyiv and based in Kyiv and Malta, develops the Metro games; Deep Silver, a division of Plaion, publishes them. Metro Awakening (VR) is the one Metro game by another studio, Vertigo Games.

Is 4A Games Ukrainian? Yes. 4A Games was founded in Kyiv, keeps most of its roughly 200 staff there, and tells Metro 2039 from what it calls a uniquely Ukrainian perspective, though its company, 4A Games Limited, is headquartered in Malta.

Why did 4A Games move to Malta? 4A Games moved its headquarters to Malta in 2014, months after Russia annexed Crimea; co-founder Andrew Prokhorov wrote that the studio would otherwise cease to exist.

Who owns 4A Games? It is unclear as of Nov 3, 2026. Embracer bought 4A Games in 2020; reports since Saber Interactive's 2024 split from Embracer conflict, and 4A says only that it makes Metro under contract with Deep Silver and Plaion.

When was 4A Games founded? 4A Games says it was founded in Kyiv in 2005, by veterans of GSC Game World, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. studio; Embracer and Deep Silver give the same year.

What is 4A Games making next? Metro 2039, out Feb 4, 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC; 4A Games also said in 2025 that a new non-Metro game was in development.

Sources

• Home, 4A Games, undated
• Metro 10th Anniversary Studio Update, 4A Games, Nov 25, 2020
• Studio Update, 4A Games, Dec 3, 2018
• 4A Games Releases ARKTIKA.1 on Oculus Rift, 4A Games, Oct 11, 2017
• In-depth technical dive into Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition, 4A Games, May 6, 2021
• 4A Games Studio Update (Exodus SDK), 4A Games, Jan 24, 2023
• 4A Games Studio Update, 4A Games, Feb 28, 2025
• Metro 15th Anniversary Update, 4A Games, Mar 16, 2025
• METRO 2039 - A Letter To Our Community, 4A Games, Apr 16, 2026
• Embracer Group acquires 4A Games, Embracer Group, Aug 13, 2020
• METRO 2039, Deep Silver, undated
• Metro Exodus, Deep Silver, undated
• METRO Redux | Next-Gen Update coming this month, Deep Silver, Oct 1, 2026
• Ukraine's 4A Games lands in Malta: 'We are not betrayers', Polygon, Aug 20, 2014
• Koch Media offers $22.3M for Volition and $5.8M for 4A Games' Metro franchise in THQ auction, Polygon, Jan 23, 2013
• Saber Interactive Splits From Embracer, Taking 38 Video Game Projects With It, IGN, Mar 14, 2024
• Metro: Redux Release Date Announced, IGN, Jun 25, 2014
• Metro 2039 Developers on Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, IGN, Aug 26, 2026
• Metro 2039 devs say "it never feels good" to see gameplay leaks, GamesRadar+, Aug 31, 2026
• Xbox First Look: Metro 2039 - Everything We Learned Today, Xbox Wire, Apr 16, 2026
• Metro author Dmitry Glukhovsky interview, Digital Trends, May 19, 2013
• THQ parent company Embracer has purchased Metro dev 4A Games and others, Game Developer, Aug 13, 2020
• Metro 2039 revealed as the post-apocalyptic shooter series returns, PlayStation Blog, Apr 16, 2026
• Metro 2033, Metacritic, undated
• Metro 2039 First Look: Hands-On With The PC Ultra Experience, Digital Foundry, Aug 26, 2026 (video)
• Metro Awakening - Before You Buy, gameranx, Nov 5, 2024 (video)
• Exclusive: Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition Analysis - The First Triple-A Game Built Around Ray Tracing, Digital Foundry, Apr 28, 2021 (video)