Cronos: The New Dawn
{{Infobox video game
| title = Cronos: The New Dawn
| image = File:Cronos The New Dawn cover art.png
| developer = Bloober Team
| publisher = Bloober Team
| director = Jacek Zięba
Wojciech Piejko
| platforms = {{ubl|PlayStation 5|Windows|Xbox Series X/S}}
| released = 2025
| genre = Survival horror
| engine = Unreal Engine 5
| modes = Single-player
}}
Cronos: The New Dawn is an upcoming 2025 survival horror game developed and published by Bloober Team. The game is scheduled to release for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S in 2025.
Gameplay
Cronos: The New Dawn is a survival horror game played from a third-person perspective. The Traveler can use both melee abilities and a variety of firearms such as pistols and shotguns to defeat enemies. If defeated enemies are not properly disposed of using fire, a surviving enemy will merge with the undead corpses, creating a hardened, more difficult version of the same enemy.{{cite web|url=https://www.eurogamer.net/bloober-has-found-its-feet-with-cronos-the-new-dawn-its-survival-horror-follow-up-to-silent-hill-2|title=Bloober has found its feet with Cronos: The New Dawn, its survival horror follow-up to Silent Hill 2|first=Ed|last=Nightingale|work=Eurogamer|date=April 17, 2025|accessdate=April 17, 2025}}
Premise
Cronos: The New Dawn follows the Traveler, who works as an agent for an enigmatic organization known as the Collective. The Traveler must survive a futuristic wasteland and travel back in time to Poland in the 1980s to extract selected people who did not survive the Change, a cataclysmic event that turned humans into monsters known as "Orphans".{{cite web |last=Lyons |first=Ben |date=October 17, 2024 |title=Bloober Team's next project is a twisted time travel story set in post-apocalyptic 1980s Poland |url=https://www.gamereactor.eu/bloober-teams-next-project-is-a-twisted-time-travel-story-set-in-post-apocalyptic-1980s-poland-1444923/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108043616/https://www.gamereactor.eu/bloober-teams-next-project-is-a-twisted-time-travel-story-set-in-post-apocalyptic-1980s-poland-1444923/ |archive-date=November 8, 2024 |accessdate=March 21, 2025 |work=Gamereactor}}{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=Iain |date=March 21, 2025 |title=Travel through time rifts to search for survivors in sci-fi survival horror Cronos: The New Dawn |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/games/survival-horror/travel-through-time-rifts-to-search-for-survivors-in-sci-fi-survival-horror-cronos-the-new-dawn/ |accessdate=March 21, 2025 |work=GamesRadar}}
Development
Cronos: The New Dawn is currently being developed by Bloober Team. Development of the game began in late 2021, with the team working on The Medium being assigned to work on Cronos. Bloober Team chose to make a science fiction horror game because they were also working on a remake of Silent Hill 2, which featured more grounded themes. The game features a retrofuturistic setting, with the team comparing it to Alien and the older Star Wars films. "New Dawn" is the starting gameplay area in Cronos, and its design was inspired by Kraków during the communist rule in the 1980s. The setting was based on brutalist architecture.{{cite web|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/games/survival-horror/bloobers-new-sci-fi-horror-game-looks-like-silent-hill-2-meets-alien-the-retrofuturistic-gorefest-ive-always-dreamed-of/|title=Bloober's new sci-fi horror game looks like Silent Hill 2 meets Alien, the retrofuturistic gorefest I've always dreamed of|first=Ashley|last=Bardhan|work=GamesRadar|date=December 21, 2024|accessdate=March 21, 2025|archive-date=January 6, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250106151345/https://www.gamesradar.com/games/survival-horror/bloobers-new-sci-fi-horror-game-looks-like-silent-hill-2-meets-alien-the-retrofuturistic-gorefest-ive-always-dreamed-of/|url-status=live}} The team was inspired by a number of films and television series, such as 12 Monkeys, Dark, and Annihilation. Body horror inspired the game's enemy design, and The Thing was cited by the team as a source of inspiration.{{cite web|url=https://www.eurogamer.net/bloober-shares-new-cronos-the-new-dawn-details-unveils-open-world-survival-horror-i-hate-this-place|title=Bloober shares new Cronos: The New Dawn details, unveils open-world survival horror I Hate This Place|first=Matt|last=Wales|work=Eurogamer|date=March 20, 2025|accessdate=March 21, 2025}} The team considered Cronos as a narrative-driven game, one that tells "an intimate story about people and characters".{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/cronos-the-new-dawn-interview-what-silent-hill-2-remake-developer-bloober-team-is-doing-next|title=Cronos: The New Dawn Interview - What Silent Hill 2 Remake Developer Bloober Team Is Doing Next|first=Ryan|last=Dinsdale|work=IGN|date=October 25, 202r|accessdate=March 21, 2025}}
Following the release of The Medium, the studio wanted to pursue a larger project and move on from making adventure games to something more gameplay-focused.{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/silent-hill-2-remake-dev-bloober-team-knew-it-had-to-evolve-after-releasing-the-medium|title=Silent Hill 2 Remake Dev Bloober Team Knew It Had to Evolve After Releasing The Medium|first=Ryan|last=Dinsdale|work=IGN|date=October 21, 2024|accessdate=March 21, 2025}} In 2023, Bloober Team's co-founder, Piotr Babieno, announced that the studio will stop making psychological horror games and transition to making "mass-market horror" games.{{cite web|url=https://www.eurogamer.net/how-bloober-is-following-silent-hill-2-with-its-first-original-survival-horror-cronos-the-new-dawn|title=How Bloober is following Silent Hill 2 with its first original survival horror, Cronos: The New Dawn|first=Ed|last=Nightingale|work=Eurogamer|date=October 21, 2024|accessdate=March 21, 2025|archive-date=December 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225212607/https://www.eurogamer.net/how-bloober-is-following-silent-hill-2-with-its-first-original-survival-horror-cronos-the-new-dawn|url-status=live}} Gameplay wise, the game was inspired by Dead Space and Alan Wake, both of which feature unique combat mechanics which encourage players to be strategic while fighting against enemies.{{cite web|url=https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2024/11/bloobers-cronos-the-new-dawn-inspired-by-dead-space-alan-wake-mechanics|title=Bloober's Cronos: The New Dawn Inspired by Dead Space, Alan Wake Mechanics|first=Khayl|last=Adam|work=Push Square|date=November 29, 2024|accessdate=March 21, 2025}} Co-director Jacek Zięba added that, in terms of gameplay, the game was "more Resident Evil and less Silent Hill".{{cite web|url=https://gamingbolt.com/cronos-the-new-dawn-interview-story-setting-combat-and-more|title=Cronos: The New Dawn Interview – Story, Setting, Combat, and More|first=Shubhankar|last=Parijat|work=GamingBolt|date=January 9, 2025|accessdate=March 21, 2025|archive-date=January 17, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117135129/https://gamingbolt.com/cronos-the-new-dawn-interview-story-setting-combat-and-more|url-status=live}}
Release
Private Division was originally set to publish Cronos: The New Dawn, though it dropped out of the deal in May 2024.{{cite web|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/private-division-has-canceled-a-deal-for-bloober-teams-unannounced-survival-horror-project-c-but-the-mystery-game-from-the-silent-hill-2-remakers-might-not-be-dead-yet/|title=Private Division has canceled a deal for Bloober Team's unannounced survival horror 'Project C', but the mystery game from the Silent Hill 2 remakers might not be dead yet|first=Rick|last=Lane|work=PC Gamer|date=May 31, 2024|accessdate=March 21, 2025|archive-date=January 16, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250116210448/https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/private-division-has-canceled-a-deal-for-bloober-teams-unannounced-survival-horror-project-c-but-the-mystery-game-from-the-silent-hill-2-remakers-might-not-be-dead-yet/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.gamespew.com/2024/10/bloober-teams-cancelled-project-c-is-cronos-the-new-dawn/|title=Bloober Team’s ‘cancelled’ Project C is Cronos: The New Dawn|first=Kim|last=Sniath|date=October 18, 2024|accessdate=March 21, 2025|work=GameSpew}} In October 2024, the game was officially announced by Bloober Team, which will self-publish the game. It is scheduled to release for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S in 2025.{{cite web|url=https://www.gematsu.com/2024/10/bloober-team-announces-third-person-survival-horror-game-cronos-the-new-dawn-for-ps5-xbox-series-and-pc|title=Bloober Team announces third-person survival horror game Cronos: The New Dawn for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC|first=Sal|last=Romano|work=Gematsu|date=October 17, 2024|accessdate=March 21, 2025|archive-date=December 26, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226003759/https://www.gematsu.com/2024/10/bloober-team-announces-third-person-survival-horror-game-cronos-the-new-dawn-for-ps5-xbox-series-and-pc|url-status=live}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|https://cronosnewdawn.com/}}
Category:Upcoming video games scheduled for 2025
Category:Video games developed in Poland
Category:Video games set in the 1980s
Category:Video games set in Poland
Category:Xbox Series X and Series S games
Category:Survival horror video games
Category:Video games about time travel
Category:Alternate history video games