4A Games used the September State of Play to show the first console gameplay from Metro 2039. Every shot in the presentation was captured on PlayStation 5 Pro in Performance Mode at 60 frames per second.

The studio then confirmed the same broad performance target for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. All three consoles are scheduled to offer a Performance Mode combining 60fps with ray tracing when the game launches.

Ray tracing is part of the foundation this time

Metro 2039 continues to use 4A Games' proprietary 4A Engine. According to the developer, this is the first Metro title built from the ground up around ray tracing.

That distinction matters because Metro Exodus followed a different path. Its 2021 Enhanced Edition substantially reworked the rendering of a game that originally launched in 2019.

Metro 2039 begins with current hardware and ray-traced rendering already inside its technical assumptions. What 4A has not published yet is a detailed breakdown of which effects use ray tracing in each mode.

Resolution information is similarly incomplete. The confirmed facts are a 60fps Performance Mode with ray tracing on PS5, PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X. 4A says full technical specifications and additional mode details will be shared later.

PS5 Pro is the demonstration platform, not the whole story

The gameplay footage shows dense surface ruins, wet materials, smoke, vegetation and strong shifts between exterior and underground lighting. The Stranger moves from irradiated open spaces into more constrained combat encounters without the trailer abandoning its 60fps presentation target.

This is still developer-captured footage. It cannot tell us the internal rendering resolution, reconstruction method, frame-time consistency or how heavier scenes behave outside the selected sequence.

Those questions need release code or substantially more detailed technical documentation.

Rendering is only part of the workload

4A is also making its ruined environments more useful during combat. Fragile structures can become openings, while the footage combines particles, weather and dynamic encounters with Metro's traditional physical equipment handling.

The series continues to favor in-world information such as The Stranger's watch instead of pushing every status indicator into a conventional HUD. Weapons, radiation equipment and environmental cues therefore have to remain readable inside increasingly dense scenes.

4A calls Metro 2039 its best-looking Metro yet. For now, that remains a developer claim rather than a benchmark.

Xbox Series S is still the missing specification

Metro 2039 is confirmed for Xbox Series S, but 4A's current 60fps ray-tracing statement specifically names PS5, PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X. The studio has not yet explained the Series S rendering target.

PC specifications are also still pending. Steam, Epic Games Store and Xbox on PC are confirmed storefronts, but minimum hardware, recommended hardware and the complete graphics menu have not been published.

Metro 2039 launches February 4, 2027. The technical conversation is finally interesting; the measurements still have to wait.