Dmitry Glukhovsky

Career

2005–2009: early literary career and first success

Glukhovsky gained wide recognition with Metro 2033, a post-apocalyptic novel set in the Moscow Metro after a nuclear war. According to Kommersant/Ogonyok, he first published the novel online in 2002 after receiving rejections from publishers, and the book was later released by Eksmo in 2005. The novel became his breakthrough work and established the fictional world that later developed into the wider Metro series and video game franchise.

His second novel, Sumerki (Сумерки), was published in 2007. Unlike Metro 2033, it was not set in the Metro universe and combined elements of mystery, fantasy and apocalyptic fiction. The novel follows a Moscow translator working with a mysterious manuscript connected to a sixteenth-century expedition to Yucatán, while the text gradually becomes linked to events in the present day. In 2014, the French edition of Sumerki, translated by Denis E. Savine and published by L’Atalante, won the Prix Utopiales Européen.

In 2009, Glukhovsky returned to the Metro setting with Metro 2034, published in Moscow by AST. The novel continued the post-apocalyptic world introduced in Metro 2033, but focused on a different group of characters, including Hunter, Homer and Sasha. Its plot centres on the station Sevastopolskaya, an isolated underground community whose survival is threatened after contact with the wider Metro is disrupted.

2010–2016: wider fiction and video games

In 2010, Glukhovsky published Stories about the Motherland (Рассказы о Родине), a collection of short stories that moved away from the post-apocalyptic setting of Metro and into contemporary social and political satire. A 2013 profile in Publishing Perspectives described the book as a series of satirical stories about contemporary Russia.

The same year, the Metro 2033 video game was released, bringing Glukhovsky’s fictional universe into the international video game market. The game was based on his novel, and Glukhovsky was credited for the story together with Andrew Prokhorov and Vyacheslav Aristov. It also received recognition from the games industry: at the 2011 D.I.C.E. Awards, it was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering and Outstanding Achievement in Story.

In 2013, Glukhovsky published Futu.re (Будущее), a dystopian science-fiction novel set in a future Europe where humanity has achieved biological immortality. The novel explores the social and moral consequences of eternal life, especially the conflict between immortality and the right to have children. Glukhovsky described the book as an experimental work that differed strongly from his earlier Metro novels. The French edition later won the Prix Libr’à Nous in the “Imaginaire” category in 2016, and the Polish edition received the Lubimyczytać.pl Book of the Year 2015 title in the science-fiction category.

Also in 2013, Glukhovsky continued his work with the video game franchise through Metro: Last Light, the sequel to Metro 2033. The game was based on the world of Metro 2033 and continued the story of the Metro universe as a narrative-driven post-apocalyptic shooter. Glukhovsky was credited as a script writer for the game, and MobyGames also notes that he contributed to its story and dialogue. The game was nominated for Best Shooter at the 2013 VGX Awards.

In 2015, Glukhovsky published Metro 2035, the final novel of the main Metro trilogy. Kommersant/Ogonyok described it as the completion of the trilogy, while Glukhovsky said in the same interview that the novel was intended not only as post-apocalyptic fiction but also as a book about Russian society. Later that year, Metro 2035 won the Ozon.ru Online Awards / Book Prize of Runet as the best fiction book according to user voting.

2017–2021: Expansion into film, theatre, television and audio fiction

In 2017, Glukhovsky published Text (Текст), which was presented on release as his first realist novel and marked a move away from the science-fiction and dystopian settings associated with his earlier work. The novel received attention from Russian literary critics, including Pavel Basinsky in God Literatury and Galina Yuzefovich in Meduza, who discussed it as a significant new work in contemporary Russian prose. Text was included in the longlist and later the shortlist of the 2017 NOS Literary Prize.

In 2018, Text was adapted for the stage by director Maxim Didenko at the Yermolova Theatre in Moscow. The production was presented as a stage version of Glukhovsky’s novel about technology, identity and digital communication, with the smartphone becoming an important dramatic element.

In 2019, Glukhovsky wrote The Outpost (Пост), a post-apocalyptic audio serial released as a Storytel Original and narrated by the author himself. The project was created specifically for audio rather than as a conventional printed novel: Glukhovsky described it as an experiment that applied techniques of television and film drama to linear audio storytelling. The first season was structured as an episodic series, with ten episodes of about 45–50 minutes, and was later translated for several international Storytel markets, including English.

Also in 2019, the Metro video game franchise continued with Metro Exodus, developed by 4A Games and published by Deep Silver. Deep Silver describes Glukhovsky as the creator of the expanded Metro universe, including the video games developed by 4A Games, and states that the story of Metro Exodus was co-developed in close collaboration with him. The game received major international industry recognition: it was nominated for Best Action Game at The Game Awards 2019, for Outstanding Technical Achievement at the 23rd D.I.C.E. Awards, and for Technical Achievement at the 2020 BAFTA Games Awards.

The same year, Text was adapted into a feature film directed by Klim Shipenko, with Glukhovsky writing the screenplay based on his own novel. The film starred Alexander Petrov, Ivan Yankovsky and Kristina Asmus. It received major recognition at the Russian national film awards: at the Golden Eagle Awards for 2019, Text won Best Film. Glukhovsky later won the Nika Award for Best Screenplay for the adaptation.

In 2020, Glukhovsky’s short story Sulphur (Сера) was adapted into a short film directed by Lana Vlady. The film was described as a psychological thriller based on Glukhovsky’s story and won the main prize in the short-film competition at Kinotavr 2020.

In 2021, Glukhovsky continued the project with The Outpost 2: To Save and Preserve (Пост. Спастись и сохранить), released on Storytel as the second and final part of the audio serial. The continuation consisted of eleven episodes, all narrated by Glukhovsky, and used a more elaborate sound design, including folk music performed by the Omut Quartet.

Also 2021, Glukhovsky wrote Topi (Топи, The Swamp), a mystical thriller series directed by Vladimir Mirzoyev and released on Kinopoisk HD. The project was Glukhovsky’s first television series and, unlike Text, was not an adaptation of a previously published novel but an original screen project. The series starred Ivan Yankovsky, Tikhon Zhiznevsky, Anastasia Krylova, Katerina Shpitsa and Sofia Volodchinskaya.

2023–present: International theatre, political writing and VR projects

In 2023, Glukhovsky wrote The White Factory, an English-language play staged at London’s Marylebone Theatre and directed by Maxim Didenko. The production was presented as the world premiere of a collaboration between Ukrainian, Russian and British creatives, with Glukhovsky credited as writer and Didenko as director. The play is centred on the Łódź ghetto during the Holocaust and examines moral compromise, survival and responsibility under occupation. The Guardian gave the production a five-star review, describing it as a “superb play” and praising its writing, performance and production.

In 2024, Glukhovsky published We. Diary of a Fall (Мы. Дневник падения) with Vidim Books. Unlike his earlier novels, the book is a collection of journalistic and political writings. Novaya Gazeta Europe describes it as a collection of articles published by Vidim Books, while the publisher presents it as a sequence of notes responding to political events and everyday life, forming a chronicle of Russia’s development from 2012 to the invasion of Ukraine. The book therefore marked a later phase of Glukhovsky’s career focused on political commentary and documentary-style reflection.

Also in 2024, the Metro franchise expanded into virtual reality with Metro Awakening, developed by Vertigo Games. The game was presented as a story-driven VR title and an origin story from Metro creator Dmitry Glukhovsky, bringing the franchise into a new format outside the mainline 4A Games series. Metro Awakening received international games-industry recognition: it was nominated for Best VR/AR Game at The Game Awards 2024 and won VR Game of the Year at the 2024 Steam Awards.

In 2026, 4A Games and Deep Silver announced Metro 2039, the next mainline game in the Metro video game series. Unlike Metro Awakening, which was a VR prequel, Metro 2039 was presented as a new mainline entry with an original story developed by 4A Games in collaboration with Glukhovsky. 4A Games stated that the new story had been created together with him and shaped by shared themes of freedom and truth.

Journalism

From 2002 to 2007, he worked at the global European media platform Euronews in Lyon, France, after which he returned to Russia and continued his career at the newly created Russia Today (RT). Over the course of three years he traveled halfway around the world, was a Kremlin pool journalist, visited the Baikonur Cosmodrome and the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, as well as the North Pole, and covered the 2006 Lebanon War as a war correspondent. He has also worked with the German radio station Deutsche Welle and the British television channel Sky News. From 2007 to 2009, he worked at Radio Mayak.

Video games

The Metro video game series is based on the fictional universe created by Glukhovsky in his Metro novels. The games adapt and expand this setting across several titles, with Glukhovsky's involvement ranging from the creation of the original literary source material to story collaboration on later games, including Metro Exodus, Metro Awakening, and Metro 2039. The following table summarises the main Metro video games connected to his work.

Theatre