The player takes on the role of a Traveler, tasked with viyaging back to 1980s-era Poland and extracting individuals who perished in the apocalypse, using a tool called the "Harvester." The storyline summary describes "The Change," a cataclysmic event that fundamentally altered the fate of humanity, shaping a visual aesthetic described as "Eastern European brutalism meets retro-futurist technology."
In addition to staying attentive to resource management, players will encounter enemies that merge with each other during battle. Lead combat designer Shamil Yanbukhtin commented on the PlayStation Blog, "This radically alters the dynamic of every encounter, with each Merge exponentially increasing its difficulty in real-time."
Music is composed by Arkadiusz Reikowski, co-composer on the Silent Hill 2 remake. The developer has posted preview tracks with brief commentary:
The Traveler - Having a retro-futuristic atmosphere is at the heart of our game's entire audio design and music philosophy. Classic synthesizers merge with organic instruments really well and we want to take full advantage of that.Cronos: The New Dawn is scheduled for release in later this year for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows through Steam. The developer celebrates the 15th anniversary of the company's founding in November.
The Collective - The gamelan is used as an audio identifier for Travelers throughout the game's soundtrack, bringing a unique flair to the music of Cronos: The New Dawn.
From the product page:
Cronos: The New Dawn is a pulse-pounding, third-person survival horror game that throws you into the heart of a deadly struggle against overwhelming foes, all while uncovering the mysteries of a twisted time travel story.Bloober Team - Cronos: The New Dawn
Not only do Cronos: The New Dawn's horrifying enemies have different attack roles, they can merge, increasing their lethality.
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 23, 2025
Here's how to survive: https://t.co/MuoA7bSjbS pic.twitter.com/7R9lP2cjBD