Grossest game of the year doubles as the most kitty friendly, as you can pet real-life cats amid alien gore: “There was like a casting for cats”

Cronos: The New Dawn – the initial new horror intellectual property that developer Bloober is crafting following its Silent Hill 2 remake – presents a grotesque reinterpretation of Soviet-era Poland, where adorable felines seemingly enjoy munching on the gruesome flesh scattered about.

Or something of that nature, according to what Cronos co-director Wojciech Piejko revealed to GamesRadar+ during a recent discussion at GDC 2025.

“We have cats within the game; you can interact with them,” Piejko commented about Cronos, which so far resembles a retrofuturistic Dead Space starring a masked time traveler. “They serve as collectibles.”

I would argue that these collectible, fluffy feline companions offer a stark tonal contrast to the decayed, writhing, tentacled alien epidermis that a peculiar gameplay trailer indicates you must dodge the fate of merging into one gigantic, multi-limbed monstrosity… although, I suppose, cats in a remote timeline would revel in anything.

Additionally, here’s another charming detail: “all the cats are modeled after the actual pets of our team,” Piejko stated. “There was essentially a casting process for cats – team members sent in photos and names.”

I imagine the opportunity for being featured in Cronos spread like litter among the cat-loving populace; our feline friends have likely been seeking a PR redemption since the Cats movie portrayed them as heartless, greedy domestic beings back in 2019.

Clearly, they resemble aloof, Eastern European angels – a classification I can relate to, especially since my mother hails from Bulgaria. It’s a difficult role, being an angel on Earth. It involves lots of sunbathing and chasing laser pointers, and sometimes, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.

But someone has to do it. And it seems Cronos’ cats carry out this role cheerfully – or rather, with a meow – as Piejko mentioned they “bring a touch of lightheartedness, shall we say, and a human element to our character.”

Can you picture it? Cats adding humanity to people, while folks shoot at monstrous torsos. It’s almost utopian.

Cronos: The New Dawn co-directors discuss merging abominations, Resident Evil, Dark Souls, and Netflix’s Dark of all things: “We have a profound psychological narrative to share.”

Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She has previously been a staff writer for Kotaku and Inverse, and she has penned freelance articles about horror and women in gaming for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she isn’t covering gaming news, she enjoys expanding her doll collection while watching movies from the Saw franchise.