Cronos: The New Dawn (2025)

07.07.2025

Cronos: The New Dawn is a new survival horror title from Polish studio Bloober Team – the creators of Silent Hill 2 Remake – offering a mix of science fiction, body horror and psychological intrigue. The game is set in the second half of 2025 and will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC (Windows).

Plot and world

The action unfolds in two timelines:

Future – a world destroyed by a catastrophe ("The Change"), resulting in people turning into mutant creatures called Orphans.

Past (1980s) – an alternative Poland under military rule, where selected souls must be saved from the impending apocalypse.

You play as Traveler, an agent of a mysterious organization (the Collective) who travels back in time to retrieve “essences” and prevent their destruction.

Gameplay

Perspective and mechanics

The game is presented from a third-person, overhead perspective and focuses on intense action with limited resources.

Main elements:

Combat – You can use both firearms (pistol, rifle) and melee combat abilities.
Merge mechanics - if you don't disarm the corpse of a killed enemy, another Orphan can "absorb" it, turning into a stronger mutant.
Fire of Destruction – you must burn the corpses of creatures to prevent merge.
Time rifts and Anomalies – the player manipulates time anomalies, traveling to the past and back, which affects the game environment and puzzles.
Limited resources – limitations in ammunition, health, and inventory heighten the tension.
Puzzles and exploration – components include ecological thinking – actions in the past impact the future.

Villainous threats

Orphans – terrible mutants born from human mutations – brutal, aggressive, with the ability to merge as part of the Merge mechanic.

There is no shortage of boss encounters, as well as action-packed situations with narrow corridors and limited resources.

Vision and sound

Built with Unreal Engine 5, the game features a retro-futurist sci-fi vision and Brutalist architecture inspired by Poland's Nowa Huta.

Music and sound – composed by Arkadiusz Rejkowski with Polish-Ukrainian folk band Zazula, with echoes of eerie chorales and synth sounds.

Difficulty and style

Bloober Team is betting on old-school survival horror with no easy modes – hard, wet, no excuses. Critics compare the mechanics to Dead Space, Resident Evil, Dark Souls and 12 Monkeys.

Publication and prospects

Planned for fall 2025, no exact date.

Coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC (Steam, Epic, Microsoft Store, PS Store).

Bloober Team is considering sequels and expanding the franchise if the first game is a success.

Conclusion

Cronos: The New Dawn looks like a promising title for fans of intense survival horror with a sci-fi atmosphere and body horror undertones. With a focus on tight encounters, limited resources and time, the game weaves together action, puzzles and story choices that should satisfy both fans of Dead Space, and on Resident Evil, a "mutant" horror. The dark world and audio-visual production create a uniquely eerie and tense experience, which is eagerly anticipated in the fall of 2025.

Cronos: The New Dawn offers a combination of intense action, a dark fantasy setting, an innovative Merge mechanism and moving between timelines – presented in an old-school survival horror style. If you are looking for a game that will confront you with tension, strategy and violent scenes – this is one of the most interesting candidates for 2025.

Minimum system requirements (PC – Windows 10 x64)

Minimum