Early impressions have been glowing, with critics praising Cronos: The New Dawn for balancing familiar horror DNA with bold, new ideas. By shifting toward action while retaining its eerie storytelling, Bloober Team seems determined to prove it can craft a truly genre-defining original IP.

With its release just around the corner, one thing is clear: horror fans are about to experience a terrifying new dawn.

A Twist on Survival Horror

Best known for psychological thrillers like the Silent Hill 2 remake, Polish studio Bloober Team is taking a daring new approach. Cronos: The New Dawn introduces players to “The Traveler,” an agent working for a shadowy organization called The Collective.

The world they must navigate is bleak: a post-apocalyptic Poland scarred by “The Change,” a catastrophe that transformed much of humanity into grotesque beings called Orphans. Using mysterious time-rifts, The Traveler journeys back to the 1980s to rescue survivors and alter the course of events.

But unlike Bloober’s past games, this isn’t just about slow-burn tension—it’s about fighting back. Inspired by Resident Evil and Dead Space, the game’s new “crime-fighting combat system” mixes third-person action with survival mechanics. Limited resources will keep players on edge, while enemies that merge with other corpses to grow stronger add an unsettling layer of strategy to every encounter.

The Post-Apocalyptic 1980s

Atmosphere has always been Bloober’s strength, and Cronos is no exception. The game fuses retro-futuristic tech with the bleak brutalism of ruined 1980s Poland, creating a setting that feels both nostalgic and terrifying.

Built on Unreal Engine 5, the environments promise cinematic visuals and suffocatingly tense spaces. And thanks to the time-travel system, decisions made in the past could ripple forward, shaping the future in unpredictable—and deadly—ways.

Release Details and Editions

Cronos: The New Dawn launches on September 5, 2025 across PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the new Nintendo Switch 2.

Players will have two editions to choose from:

  • Standard Edition: Full game on launch day.
  • Deluxe Edition: Early access starting September 3, plus cosmetic skins, a digital art book, and the official soundtrack.

For collectors, the PlayStation 5 physical edition is being distributed by Skybound Games and Bandai Namco, signaling Bloober Team’s push into retail shelves alongside its digital presence.