It's hard to believe anyone would ever "rage-quit" a Dark Pictures game, because they aren't designed to be difficult in the slightest. In fact, they really haven't explored the idea of traditional difficulty until Directive 8020, which features an unprecedented amount of live stealth segments where players have full control over their character. More than anything, the challenge of a Dark Pictures game typically lies in the choices players are presented with, as they always come with consequences, many of which are unexpected. However, that's precisely why some players have actually quit Dark Pictures games in the past, vowing to never pick it up again after a choice they made led to a rather unfortunate outcome.
What's interesting about that anecdote, though, is that Supermassive's Dark Pictures Anthology has always allowed players the chance to play through a game again and make different choices if they wish. With that kind of replayability, rage-quitting after a mistake seems at first to be an odd move. Even so, according to some comments made by director Will Doyle in a recent interview with GameRant, the data has apparently proven the trend, and the developer wants to put a stop to it in Directive 8020 with its new Turning Point system.
Directive 8020's Turning Point System Was Designed to Prevent Rage-Quitting
The Turning Point system is, without a doubt, Directive 8020's standout feature. Never before has a Dark Pictures game given players the ability to rewind the game at any point in order to correct or change a past choice. Based on my hands-on time with Directive 8020, the Turning Point menu really can be accessed at almost any point in the game, which should immediately relieve anyone of the anxiety that will inevitably come with making some of its most painful choices.
The challenge of a Dark Pictures game typically lies in the choices players are presented with, as they always come with consequences, many of which are unexpected.
However, while I can get behind the accessibility Turning Points adds to a story-driven game like Directive 8020, I was a bit concerned about how it could undermine that feeling of consequence that comes with making a plot-altering choice. After all, if you can simply reverse the outcome after bearing witness to it, why should anyone ever be worried about making a decision in the game?
At that point, it might feel like a choose-your-own-adventure novel in my hands where I can essentially hold my thumb on the crossroads page and immediately turn back if I'm not happy with the outcome. But according to Doyle, Directive 8020 offers players a choice that can influence this before they even get into the game:
We know that many of our fans like the weight of their choices and like the kind of immediacy and that moment of "Oh, God, I've got to make a decision now, otherwise I'm screwed." And for them, when you start a new game of Directive 8020, the very first choice you get is what playstyle you want to play it on. And you can either play it on Survivor mode or on Explorer mode, and if you play it on Survivor mode, you can see the Turning Point screen at any time, but you can't rewind, ever. And then, when you complete the game, it will then give you the option to switch to Explorer and go back and try it out. Or you could start right from the beginning on Explorer and any time you can jump back.
By giving players the option of playing Directive 8020 on either Explorer mode or Survivor mode, they can effectively choose whether they want a classic Dark Pictures experience or this new take on Supermassive's iconic branching narratives. Even then, Doyle made it sound like those options may not actually be enough to deter players from craving the new Turning Point system. "It's been really fascinating for us because we knew that people had strong opinions either way," he said. "And we really have been surprised by how many people came into the games thinking, "I'm never going to rewind at all." And then actually, they were like, "No, I'm rewinding all the time."
The reason for that, it seems, ultimately comes down to why the Turning Point system was created in the first place, with the "main reason," according to Doyle, stemming from a desire to be more respectful of the player's time. Again, Dark Pictures games have always encouraged players to attempt a second and perhaps third and fourth playthrough to make different choices. But the Turning Point system allows players to perform those attempts instantly, targeting specific plot points and choices rather than being required to play through the entire game again just to see a different outcome overall. Doyle explained this in detail:
In our previous games, you'd get to the end of the game, and we obviously want you to go and see all the great content we've made, all the great branching that's available, see how the story twists and turns. But we'd kind of force you to go right back to the beginning or jump to the start of a chapter. And I really wanted to give you the chance to go right back to the exact moment and see the minimum amount of cutscene or whatever before you get into that moment of choice.
That's becoming a rather common theme in modern gaming—being more respectful of the player's time—as many gamers become increasingly busy and have less time to devote to video games. In some cases, cutting down on the amount of time players spend in a game doing menial tasks can have the opposite effect. Take Starfield, for instance, which was initially designed to ensure players could get from planet to planet without needing to manually travel between them. However, after complaints from players who wanted to spend more time traveling through space, Bethesda launched the Free Lanes update, which allows players the option to be in full control of space travel.
In a Dark Pictures game, on the other hand, which is largely a passive cinematic experience, downtime is more noticeable. Sure, making different choices during subsequent playthroughs can change outcomes and even the dialogue between them, but many of the cutscenes are going to be, by and large, similar enough that they can feel like a trudge to get through. Directive 8020 is aiming to fix that with Turning Points.
How the Value of Time Fuels Rage-Quitting
That's not the only reason the system was designed, though. As previously intimated, a certain part of it revolves around discouraging a specific type of rage-quitting by allowing players the chance to undo their mistakes if they're not happy with the outcome. And according to Doyle, this was more than just a shot in the dark—there was actual data in support of the idea:
But also, we know from the data that we received that some players will stop playing when a character dies, and will just literally never go back to the game. And that surprised us, you know. And I like to think it's because we make really, really good characters and people are like, "Right, that's it. I'm not playing. I love that character and I can't rewind." Well, now you can.
Doyle didn't give explicit information about the percentage of players who would actually quit a Dark Pictures game and never pick it back up again, but he really didn't have to. This reasoning actually falls in line with the first reason the director gave about respecting the player's time. Someone's reason, most likely, for rage-quitting a Dark Pictures game after their favorite character died is simply because undoing that choice would mean playing through the entire game again.
"We really have been surprised by how many people came into the games thinking, "I'm never going to rewind at all." And then actually, they were like, "No, I'm rewinding all the time."
The series isn't known for offering lengthy gaming experiences, with the longest entry taking around 7 or 8 hours to complete, but considering how much each of them branch, it can feel like an intricate puzzle at times just trying to make the right combination of choices to ensure the best outcome. Because of that, making one mistake could make the few hours it actually takes to correct it feel like years. Now, Turning Points gives players a way out, and a completely optional one at that.
And it seems it may pay off too, as Doyle confirmed it has been a real hit among the game's testers. "The Turning Point system has really, really gone down well with everyone that's used it," he stated, "so I'd be surprised if we don't use it in the future, but who knows." At this point, it feels like a given that Turning Points will return in some form or another in future Dark Pictures games. Doyle did say "it depends on the story," though, which ultimately means whether Supermassive is okay with the story it wants to tell giving players enough freedom to rewind it at any moment. For now, however, Turning Points remains Directive 8020's bread and butter.
Directive 8020
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 72/100 Critics Rec: 53%
- Released
- May 12, 2026
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Supermassive Games
- Publisher(s)
- Supermassive Games
