Few within our industry can achieve what the Bloober Team managed to pull off with Silent Hill 2’s Remake, bringing a timeless story about broken, miserable people from 2001 to the current era.
Yet, for all that the game accomplished critically and commercially, it isn’t going to contend for the one award that matters more than any other, leaving many to feel as though the developer got robbed of a well-deserving shot at the GOTY Award.
However, the bigger question that some now have is whether Cronos: The New Dawn, Bloober’s next title, can deliver what was lost this year.
Silent Hill 2 May Not Get the GOTY Award, but Bloober Team Is Still Hard at Work on Its Next Title
Now, it’s already major news that the 2001 game’s remake scored five nominations across different categories at The Game Awards yet missed a spot as a Game of the Year contender.
It’s been hard news to swallow for many, especially since an expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, secured a nomination in its place.
Sure, while the DLC offers nearly 60+ hours of content—essentially acting as Elden Ring 2—it’s still fundamentally an expansion, and its inclusion has raised questions about whether such random decisions are ethical by nature.
For Bloober Team, though, it’s hard to imagine how it must feel. After successfully delivering on what many called a near-impossible task, especially with all the previous doubt cast upon them, the studio’s efforts ultimately fell short of the industry’s highest accolade in the eyes of the jury.
Thankfully, however, the team is spending no time wallowing over the news, and are still hard at work on their next title, Cronos: The New Dawn. Take, for instance, what Bloober’s Jacek Zieba said in an interview when asked about the game:
“We started pre-production somewhere during the end of The Medium, the ideas and everything. When we finished The Medium, parts of the team were designated to start doing Cronos, so now it’s in an advanced state of production.”
Honestly, it’s incredible how diligently Bloober, no matter the setback, is working on its next game right after Silent Hill 2’s release, all to ensure people understand that the studio isn’t a one-trick pony that can specialize in Silent Hill remakes, at the end of the day.
Plus, from what we’ve seen so far, with the game blending survival horror, retro-futuristic aesthetics, and mechanics tied to time travel, this might just be the studio’s first independent hit, and what gets them revenge for everything that they faced this year, including the lack of a GOTY nomination.
Here’s Why Cronos: The New Dawn Deserves to Be In Your 2025 Horror Gaming Wishlist
Speaking of the game itself, let’s give you a brief rundown of this one game in particular might be worth keeping in your next year’s wishlist.
For starters, Cronos: The New Dawn has all the makings of a standout survival horror experience—a brutalist, retro-futurist world, humanity’s desperate attempts to survive a post-apocalyptic wasteland, nightmarish creatures, you name it.
Next, there seems to be a unique flavor of time manipulation in this game that might see us investigating both the past and the future as we take on the game’s primary baddies, something that, for our money, sets the game apart within the genre.
What excites us about the game, though, is how it feels like Bloober Team at its most creative and confident. For years, after all, the studio seemed to struggle to find its place within the horror genre after its Nintendo DS days.
But now, riding high on the technical and artistic achievement that was Silent Hill 2, the studio feels well-equipped with the experience and resources required to truly push its creative boundaries.
So, this might be Bloober’s most polished and daring work yet. If it manages to play its cards right all the way to its release, Cronos could very well turn out to be a GOTY contender next year.
Will it actually win the award in the end? Who knows, but at the very least, it would be a sweet revenge for the travesty the Silent Hill 2 Remake is currently experiencing.
But with all that said, do you agree that Bloober deserved better this year with everything that happened to it? Will Cronos manage to claim gaming’s top prize next year? Let us know in the comments below!
