Cronos: The New Dawn is the latest survival horror game from Bloober Team, the studio known for The Medium and the Silent Hill 2 remake. Released on September 5, 2025, this title pushes Bloober into more action‑oriented horror while keeping a strong focus on atmosphere, story, and tense combat. The game is available on Windows PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Linux, and Nintendo Switch 2.
What makes Cronos stand out is its blend of gritty sci‑fi setting, deep narrative, and strategic survival mechanics. Players step into the shoes of the Traveler, an agent for an enigmatic group called the Collective. Tasked with venturing through a devastated future and hopping back in time to the 1980s to rescue those lost to a mysterious apocalypse, the game balances exploration, combat, and story in a style that mixes old and new survival horror traditions.
The world of Cronos: The New Dawn is grim and haunting. A cataclysm known as “The Change” has turned most of humanity into horrifying creatures called Orphans. The Traveler must navigate both the ruins of a post‑apocalyptic future and the stark, industrial landscapes of 1980s Poland. This duality gives the game a retro‑futuristic feel, mixing brutality and bleak beauty.
The story unfolds in a narrative‑driven way, with time‑travel elements that tie into why the Traveler hunts specific individuals and why their Essences matter to the Collective. Environmental storytelling is strong here, with the world itself acting as a character — ruined buildings, abandoned notes, and remnants of the past all add depth to the bleak experience.
Gameplay and Mechanics
Cronos plays from a third‑person perspective. Combat blends shooting and melee with resource management. Ammunition is limited, enemies are dangerous, and a unique “merge” mechanic adds tension: if enemies aren’t destroyed properly, they can fuse into stronger abominations. This pushes players to think fast and plan their encounters, not just rely on reflexes.
The game draws inspiration from classics like Dead Space, Resident Evil, and Silent Hill, but it also tries to carve its own path with a more sci‑fi‑heavy story and a setting grounded in brutalist, Eastern European architecture.
Cronos: The New Dawn System Requirements
Here’s a breakdown of the official PC specs needed to run Cronos: The New Dawn smoothly:
Minimum Requirements
OS: Windows 10/11 x64bit
CPU: Intel Core i5-8400F / Intel Core I5-8600K / Amd Ryzen 5 3600
Memory: 16GB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 / AMD Radeon RX 5700-XT / Intel Arc A770
Storage: 50GB Available Space
DirectX: Version 12
Sound Card: Windows compatible Audio Device
Recommended Requirements
OS: Windows 10/11 x64bit
CPU: Intel Core i7-10700K / Amd Ryzen 5 3600X
Memory: 16GB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 / AMD Radeon RX6800 -XT / Intel Arc B580 (Allows for Gameplay in 1080p)
Storage: 50GB Available Space
DirectX: Version 12
Sound Card: Windows compatible Audio Device
To run the software, a 64-bit processor and operating system are required, with a minimum of Windows 10 x64 as the operating system. The processor should be at least an Intel Core i5-8400F, Intel Core i5-8600K, or AMD Ryzen 5 3600, paired with 16 GB of RAM. For graphics, a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, AMD Radeon RX 5700-XT, or Intel Arc A770 is necessary, along with DirectX Version 12. The system must have 50 GB of available storage space and a Windows-compatible audio device.
For optimal performance, the recommended specifications include the same Windows 10 x64 operating system but with a more powerful processor, such as an Intel Core i7-10700K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600X. The recommended graphics cards are a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, AMD Radeon RX6800-XT, or Intel Arc B580, which support gameplay in 1080p. The memory, DirectX, storage, and sound card requirements remain the same as the minimum specifications, with 16 GB RAM, DirectX Version 12, 50 GB of available storage, and a Windows-compatible audio device.
These requirements reflect a modern triple‑A production, with higher specs needed for smoother framerate and better graphics.
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