Directive 8020 boss promises "a huge leap forward for the series" with two major upgrades

How does Directive 8020, the new sci-fi entry in Supermassive Games’s The Dark Pictures Anthology, change things up?

That was the question on our mind when we sat down with its creative director, Will Doyle, at the Gamescom conference.

On the Radio Times Gaming podcast this month, we’ve been previewing some of the big games of 2026 (the ones that aren’t GTA 6), which makes this the perfect time to drop our Directive 8020 interview in full.

If podcasts aren’t your thing, you can also watch the interview in the player above (or over on the Radio Times Gaming YouTube channel). Or if the written word is your bag, keep reading for some choice quotes in article form!

Directive 8020, if you’re unfamiliar, is the next horror in the anthology series The Dark Pictures. Lashana Lynch is the star this time, and the threat is a creepy alien species that can mimic its human victims (think Alien meets The Thing).

As Will Doyle told us, there are two major additions for returning fans to look out for this time: the action overhaul of Real-Time Threats, and the choice-changing Turning Point system.

In a hands-on demo of the game’s first chapter, we were able to try both of these out, and the Turning Point system made a particularly big impact.

Imagine, if you can, a DVD menu where you can move back and forth from any moment and pick up there. Got it? Okay, you’re halfway to imagining this system that allows you to backtrack and alter your choices in the game without having to spam your saves or drag yourself back to the start of a chapter just to retake a Quick-Time Event that went wrong.

So, what was thinking behind the Turning Point system?

In Doyle’s words, "One of the many goals of it is to make the game more accessible for our fans, [allowing them] to get to the content they want to get to, as soon as possible.

"We find that people play through the game once, and then, previously, they'd have to start from the beginning or go to a chapter and then play from that point on. Now, with the Turning Point system, you can get straight to the decision that you're wondering about.

"Go right back to that exact moment or the branching Quick-Time event that created that, and just get right down in the moment."

Doyle was quick to reassure their most hardcore players, however, adding "For our fans that do want to live and die by their decisions, and don't even wanna be tempted by the option to do it, there's Survival Mode which turns it off completely until you get to the end of the game."

Continuing, he explained: "The system itself, though, is just fantastic. It just gives almost like a sort of a collector's aspect to it, as well, because the whole decision tree is shown to you as individual scenes or beats. And they fill in as you play through it. So, there's a kind of sticker book aspect to it as well, of like, 'I want to unlock absolutely everything.'"

The other major upgrade for returning Dark Pictures fans is Real-Time Threats, with the developers adding free-roaming sequences where the central monster stalks you as you explore.

Doyle told us, "It’s a huge leap forward for the series. For me, I always thought that in our previous games, when you enter what we call the discovery sections or the exploration sections, they're the times when you feel, in a way, the most tense.

"But when you get to know the games, you're like, 'Actually, they're the times where you're almost the most safe'. It's during the kind of narrative cut scene moments that you're most at risk for a bad choice or a Quick-Time Event. Whereas there's almost an expectation that when you're walking around, you're in danger.

"Something could be out there. So I really, really wanted to get that feeling of… I could turn a corner and see a monster. And that monster could see me, or it could hear me, hunt me down. So yeah, it's a big improvement on how scary the game is.

"Like, there's something special and magic about holding onto the controller and knowing that this character's life is literally in your hands now."

Touching on the overarching aims of the game, Doyle added, "When you make a decision, one of our goals is — and it's a rather sick goal — but our goal is, whenever you make a choice, you should feel a sense of loss.

"You should feel that. Did I make the right choice? Was that right? And yeah, now you can quite quickly go back and see, 'What would happen if I did that?'

"And you'll see the branching that we put in. You'll see that your choices really do matter in these games."

Unsurprisingly, after an hour or so playing the game, we had already killed some characters and were itching to go back in time and try to save them.

We’ll just have to wait until the game comes out to see all the outcomes, though. Until then, you can check out the rest of this interview on our podcast feed!

Directive 8020 is expected to launch in the first half of 2026 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. You can wishlist the game now.

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Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.