# Metro (franchise)

Metro (Russian: Метро) is a post-apocalyptic fiction franchise consisting primarily of novels and video games that began with the 2002 release of Russian writer Dmitry Glukhovsky's novel Metro 2033. It was followed by his sequels Metro 2034 and Metro 2035, as well as by many other books by different authors, including Tullio Avoledo, Pierre Bordage, Robert J. Szmidt and Shimun Vrochek. Ukrainian studio 4A Games created the original novel's video game adaptation Metro 2033, followed by Metro: Last Light and Metro Exodus.
All of the Metro stories share the same setting – the fictional universe of Glukhovsky's novels. Although these described only his own vision of a devastated Moscow, and in particular the titular Moscow Metro system, the works of the extended universe take place in a wide variety of different areas within Russia and elsewhere in a world ravaged by global biological and nuclear warfare.

## Video games

A first-person shooter video game titled Metro 2033 was created for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 gaming platforms. It was developed by 4A Games in Ukraine and published in March 2010 by THQ. A sequel, Metro: Last Light, was released in May 2013 on Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Redux versions of the games were released in 2014, featuring updated graphics and gameplay with all previously released downloadable content bundled. The Metro Redux bundle was released for the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. A third game, Metro Exodus, was released in February 2019. A fourth game, Metro Awakening, was released in November 2024.
| Title | Details |
| Metro 2033 NA: 16 March 2010AU: 18 March 2010EU: 19 March 2010 – Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, OS X (2014), Linux (2015) | Notes: A first-person video game. First game in the series, developed by 4A Games and published by THQ. Utilized 4A Engine |
| Metro: Last Light NA: 14 May 2013AU: 16 May 2013EU: 17 May 2013 – Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux | Notes: A sequel to Metro 2033 Published by Deep Silver after THQ's bankruptcy It was not an adaptation of the novel Metro 2034 |
| Metro Redux NA: 26 August 2014AU: 4 September 2014EU: 29 August 2014 – Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch (2020), Stadia | Notes: Remastered version of both Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light 1.5 million copies were sold |
| Metro Exodus 15 February 2019 – Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Stadia | Notes: Sequel to Metro: Last Light Development of the game began in 2014 at 4A Games' studios in Malta and Kyiv 10 Million + copies were sold |
| Metro Awakening 7 November 2024 – Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Android | Notes: Developed by Vertigo Games A virtual reality-only title for PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest, and Steam VR |

## Other novels

The Universe of Metro 2033 (Russian: Вселенная Метро 2033) is a series of short stories, novellas, and novels, spanning a variety of genres ranging from post-apocalyptic action to romance, written by several different authors. Despite being written by various authors, the stories of the extended Metro series are all supported by Dmitry Glukhovsky and advertised on the official Metro website.
| Author | Title | Locations | Date of publication |
| Vladimir Berezin | Road Signs | Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast, Tver Oblast, Moscow Oblast | December 2009 |
| Sergey Antonov | Dark Tunnels | Moscow | January 2010 |
| Shimun Vrochek | Piter | Saint Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast | February 2010 |
| Sergey Kuznetsov | Marmoreal Paradise | Moscow Oblast, Moscow | May 2010 |
| Andrey Dyakov | Towards the Light | Saint Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast | June 2010 |
| Andrey Erpylev | The Yield by Force | Moscow | July 2010 |
| Suren Tsormudian | The Wanderer | Moscow | September 2010 |
| Andrey Butorin | The North | Kola Peninsula, Murmansk | October 2010 |
| Sergey Antonov | In the Interest of the Revolution | Moscow | November 2010 |
| Alexandr Shakilov | War of the Moles | Kyiv | December 2010 |
| Ruslan Melnikov | Murancha | Rostov on Don | January 2011 |
| Sergey Paliy | The Nameless | Samara | February 2011 |
| Sergey Moskvin | To See the Sun | Novosibirsk | March 2011 |
| Andrey Grebenschikov | Below Hell | Yekaterinburg | April 2011 |
| Anna Kalinkina | Ghost-Station | Moscow | June 2011 |
| Andrey Dyakov | Into the Darkness | Leningrad Oblast, Saint Petersburg | June 2011 |
| Sergey Zaytsev | Corpsmen | Moscow | August 2011 |
| Grant McMaster | Britannia | Glasgow, Scotland, England, Carlisle, York, Conisbrough, Doncaster, Sheffield, Chesterfield, Leicester, London | September 2011 |
| Igor Vardunas | Ice Prison | Baltic Sea, La Manche, Atlantic Ocean, Africa, Antarctica | October 2011 |
| Andrey Butorin | Siege of Paradise | Kola Peninsula, Polyarnye Zori | November 2011 |
| Twenty two Russian authors (edited by Dmitry Glukhovsky) | The Last Refuge (short story collection) | Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Moscow Oblast, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnodar, Biisk, Sochi | December 2011 |
| Sergey Antonov | Unburied | Moscow | January 2012 |
| Andrey Chernetsov, Valentin Lezhenda | Blinding Emptiness | Moscow, Kharkiv | January 2012 |
| Tullio Avoledo | The Roots of Heaven | Rome, Lazio, Torrita Tiberina, Umbria, Marche, Urbino, Emilia Romagna, Rimini, Santarcangelo di Romagna, Ravenna, Veneto, Venice | March 2012 |
| Anna Kalinkina | Kingdom of Rats | Moscow | March 2012 |
| Zahar Petrov | MRLs | Minsk | May 2012 |
| Suren Tsormudyan | Ancestral Heritage | Kaliningrad | July 2012 |
| Denis Shabalov | The Right to Use Force | Serdobsk | August 2012 |
| "Timofey Kalashnikov" (collective authorship) | The World's End (short story collection) | Moscow | September 2012 |
| Sergey Moskvin | Hunger | Novaya Zemlya | October 2012 |
| Irina Baranova, Constantine Benev | The Witness | Saint Petersburg | November 2012 |
| Andrey Butorin | The Daughter of Heavenly Spirit | Kola Peninsula, Murmansk | December 2012 |
| Andrey Dyakov | Over the Horizon | Saint-Petersburg, Leningrad, Vologda, Cherepovets, Yaroslavl Oblast, Rybinsk, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo Oblast, Tatarstan, Kazan, Bashkortostan, Beloretsk, Yamantau, Orenburg Oblast, Dagestan, Kaspiysk, Primorsky Krai, Vladivostok | January 2013 |
| Denis Shabolov | The Right to Life | Serdobsk, Penza Oblast, Mordovia, Tatarstan, Mari El, Komi Republic, Kirov Oblast | March 2013 |
| Sergei Antonov | Rublyovka | | June 2013 |
| Olga Shvetsova | The One Standing at the Door | | July 2013 |
| Ruslan Melnikov | From the Depths | | September 2013 |
| Nikita Averin | Crimea | | October 2013 |
| Dmitri Yermakov | Blindmen | | November 2013 |
| Tagir Kireev | White Leopard | | January 2014 |
| Fourteen Polish authors | In the Firelight (short story collection) | Moscow, Łódź | January 2014 |
| Igor Osipov | The Meter | | February 2014 |
| Andrei Grebenshchikov | Sisters of Sorrow | | March 2014 |
| Tullio Avoledo | The Children's Crusade | Milan | March 2014 |
| Andrey Butorin | Mutant | | April 2014 |
| Dmitry Manasypov | The Road of Steel and Hope | | May 2014 |
| Anna Kalinkina | The Host of the Yauza | | June 2014 |
| Victor Lebedev | Born to Crawl | | July 2014 |
| Sergei Antonov | Rublyovka-2 | | August 2014 |
| Paweł Majka | The Promised District | Nowa Huta, Kraków, Poland | August 2014 |
| Nikita Averin | Crimea-2 | | September 2014 |
| Elona Demidova, Evgeny Shikil | The Apostate | | October 2014 |
| Olga Shvetsova | Nobody | | December 2014 |
| Kira Ilarionova | Beast Code | | January 2015 |
| Eight Polish authors | Whispers of the Fallen | Kyiv, Moscow, Warsaw, Zwonowice, Radom, Szczecin, Częstochowa, Slovakia, Hungary | April 2015 |
| Nikita Averin | Crimea-3 | | July 2015 |
| Robert J. Szmidt | The Abyss | Wrocław | August 2015 |
| Igor Osipov | Leshy Never Die | | September 2015 |
| Victor Lebedev | Flying Away | | October 2015 |
| Sergey Semyonov | Through Alien Eyes | Nizhny Novgorod | December 2015 |
| Dmitry Manasypov | Towards the Distant Blue Sea | | February 2016 |
| Rinat Tashtabanov | Countdown | | March 2016 |
| Fourteen Polish authors | Echo of an Extinguished World (short story collection) | Warsaw, Zabrze, Kraków, Giewont, Moscow, Stockholm, Dunmore Cave, Gdańsk Bay, Gdynia, Project Riese | March 2016 |
| Robert J. Szmidt | The Tower | Wrocław | May 2016 |
| Yuri Ulengov | Edge of Humanity | | June 2016 |
| Maria Strelova | Isolation | | July 2016 |
| Paweł Majka | The Promised Man | Kraków | November 2016 |
| Olga Shvetsova | Guardian Demon | | February 2017 |
| Artur Chmielewski | Achromatopsia | Warsaw | March 2017 |
| Yuri Kharitonov | At the Edge of the Abyss | | May 2017 |
| Denis Shabalov | The Right to Revenge | Serdobsk, Penza | June 2017 |
| Twelve Polish authors | In the Ruins (short story collection) | Oleśnica, Katowice, Szczecin, Sława, Ostrołęka, Żar mountain, Warsaw, Chicago | June 2017 |
| Pavel Makarov | Crossroads of Fate | | July 2017 |
| Sergei Antonov | Rublyovka-3 | | August 2017 |
| Sergey Moskvin | Pythia | | October 2017 |
| Suren Tsormudian | The Edge of the Earth | | January 2018 |
| Shimun Vrochek | Piter. War. | | February 2018 |
| Sergei Nedorub | The Red Option | | March 2018 |
| Dmitry Manasypov | Beyond the Ice Clouds | | April 2018 |
| Suren Tsormudian | The Edge of the Earth 2: Fire and Ashes | | April 2018 |
| Rinat Tashtabanov | Raising the Dead | | May 2018 |
| Dmitry Manasypov | Bad Dog | | June 2018 |
| Sergey Moskvin | Pythia-2 | | June 2018 |
| Olga Shvetsova, Shamil Altamirov | Pandora's Box | | July 2018 |
| Igor Osipov, Olga Shvetsova | Running Along the Edge | | August 2018 |
| Yuri Kharitonov | Shelter of Forgotten Souls | | September 2018 |
| Dmitry Manasypov, Shamil Altamirov | Steel Island | | October 2018 |
| Svetlana Kuznetsova | Ouroboros | | November 2018 |
| Irina Baranova, Konstantin Benev | Queen of the Night | | November 2018 |
| Zakhar Petrov | Muos: Purgatory | | December 2018 |
| Vladislav Vystavnoy | The Roof of the World | | January 2019 |
| Oleg Grach | Parad-alle | | January 2019 |
| Victor Lebedev | Blackwater | | February 2019 |
| Andrei Lisieva | The Winter of Mercy | | March 2019 |
| Tullio Avoledo | The Conclave of Darkness | | March 2019 |
| Zakhar Petrov | Muos: The Fall | | April 2019 |
| Yuri Mori | Embryo: The Beginning | | May 2019 |
| Robert J. Szmidt | The Giant | | May 2019 |
| Dmitry Manasypov | Loyal Dog | | June 2019 |
| Irina Baranova, Konstantin Benev | City of Seven Winds | | July 2019 |
| Sergey Alexeyev | Nomad | | July 2019 |
| Vladislav Vystavnoy | The Roof of the World: Carthage | | August 2019 |
| Yuri Mori | Embryo: The Duel | | October 2019 |
| Shimun Vrochek | Piter. Battle of the Twins | | December 2019 |
| Yuri Mori | Embryo: The Fusion | | January 2020 |
| Victor Tochinov | Kovacs' Defense | | February 2020 |
| Dmitry Blinov | Arkaim | | February 2020 |
| Sergei Nedorub | The Lost Clan | | April 2020 |
| Pierre Bordage | Left Bank | Paris | May 2020 |
| Svetlana Kuznetsova | A Palace for Slaves | | June 2020 |
| Yuri Kharitonov | Death of the Octane Gods | | September 2020 |
| Irina Bakulina, Igor Vardunas | The Cage | | November 2020 |
| Sergey Antonov | The Supreme Power | | November 2020 |
| Sergey Semyonov | The Price of Freedom | | January 2021 |
| Pierre Bordage | Right Bank | Paris | March 2021 |
| Pierre Bordage | City | Paris | April 2022 |

## Translations

Most of the written works of the series were originally released in Russia. Some books from the universe of Metro 2033, like Piter, Towards the Light and Into the Darkness, have been translated to a number of European languages, such as German, Polish and Swedish. Prior to 2014 and the video games Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, no books in the series were released in a country where English is the prominent language.

## Other media

A graphic novel titled Metro 2033: Britannia Comic Prologue inspired by the prologue of the Metro 2033 novel Britannia was published in 2012. The story was written by Grant McMaster, the author of the novel and is illustrated by Benedict Hollis. It is available as a free download and unlike the novels it is in English rather than Russian.
A Metro 2033 board game based on the original novel was released in 2011. It was designed by Sergei Golubkin and was published by Hobby World.
The Metro series was also being developed into films by Michael De Luca and Solipsist Films for MGM, but the deal has been cancelled by Glukhovsky due to his disapproval to their Americanization of his work. A Russian Metro 2033 film adaptation project was announced by the Russian state company Gazprom Media in 2019. The film is now unlikely to be made since Glukhovsky left the country to avoid prosecution and prison for his criticism of the Russian war in Ukraine.