Cronos: The New Dawn’s Lazarus DLC Gets December 3 Release Date

Cronos: The New Dawn’s first story expansion now has a confirmed release date. Bloober Team announced that Cronos: Lazarus launches December 3, 2026, priced at $9.99 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The DLC follows the main game’s original September 2025 launch and was first teased ahead of Summer Game Fest 2026, with gameplay details following at that show before today’s confirmed date.

A New Protagonist, a Faster Combat Style

Lazarus puts players in control of the Warden, a character familiar to anyone who finished the base game, during his transformation from a loyal Pathfinder into the figure players encounter in Cronos: The New Dawn’s main story. Set in the same wastelands of New Dawn, the DLC follows the Warden as he works, isolated from the Collective, to revive a lost Essence he refuses to let fade, all while a newly deployed hunter closes in with a single directive: find and eliminate him.

Bloober Team has been upfront that Lazarus plays noticeably differently from the base game. “Whereas in Cronos: The New Dawn you focused more on precision and picking your battles, this expansion lets you experience what it means to be one of the Collective’s elite agents,” the studio said. The Warden’s kit leans on teleportation and decoy tools to move quickly through danger, pushing the DLC toward a faster, more aggressive combat loop than the methodical survival horror of the main campaign.

Explaining a Character’s Betrayal

Story-wise, Lazarus fills in a gap from the base game. During Cronos: The New Dawn, players encounter a former Collective agent who turns against the organization partway through the story. The DLC explores why he broke from the Collective’s script and what he’s planning next, giving the base game’s antagonist a fuller backstory.

Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno has framed the wider Cronos project as a significant bet for the studio. “Cronos: The New Dawn is our original IP – an ambitious risk that allows us to create something truly unique,” Babieno said in a press release.

A Discount Arrives First

Ahead of the DLC itself, Bloober Team confirmed Cronos: The New Dawn will be discounted 50% during the Halloween period across Steam, PS5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, giving newcomers a cheaper entry point to the base game before Lazarus arrives in December. Players will need to have completed or own Cronos: The New Dawn to play the expansion, since it builds directly on characters and events from the main story.

FAQ