In what may be one of the few remaining public collaborations between Ukrainians and Russians in the creative industries, exiled Russian writer Dmitry Glukhovsky, whose novels formed the basis of the franchise, contributed to scripting this standalone prequel.The first three games in the series — Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, and Metro: Exodus — were developed by Ukrainian company 4A Games. 4A Games and Netherlands-based Vertigo Games share a parent company, Embracer Group. While Metro Awakening was developed by Vertigo Games, 4A Games provided resources from previous games to aid development, according to Metro Awakening’s creative director. A subsidiary of Embracer Group said in February that 4A Games is working on a non-VR game in the franchise, though there is no scheduled release date.