Until Dawn meets 'The Thing' in the latest State of Play reveal trailer

Sony's PlayStation State of Play was packed with reveals for anticipated game titles. Among them: Directive 8020, a story-based sci-fi horror experience set in space.

Directive 8020 kicks off Season 2 of The Dark Pictures Anthology, a series of shorter survival horror games with a unique story and cast in every entry. Directive 8020 was first teased during the mid-credits of The Devil in Me back in 2022, and a full announcement trailer was unveiled at Gamescom in August 2024.

Supermassive Games has always drawn inspiration from classic films. This time, they appear to be drawing on works like Alien and The Thing. The story trailer features astronauts facing an unknown alien threat while they grapple for survival aboard a spaceship called 'The Cassiopeia.'

Directive 8020 sticks to the series' classic formula: the feeling of playing a horror movie. Like its predecessors, Directive 8020 will feature real-time decision-making, branching narratives, and a star-studded lineup. It'll be up to the players who survive throughout the experience, as you'll see some of the consequences inflicted upon the characters throughout the trailer.

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(Credit: Supermassive Games)

The alien creature draws particular inspiration from John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), with the ability to replicate the DNA of humans and 'mimic' the appearance of players on board the ship. This will undoubtedly lead to the unsettling experience of identifying who's honest, who's not, and who you can trust.

Directive 8020 is set to release on October 2nd, 2025, and will be available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.

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