According to rumors, a new “Astro Bot” is planned for this year. And the company is also said to be working on other brands.
Sony wants to in the coming financial year no big games, based on the company's key brands. This refers to franchises like “God of War”, “Spider-Man”, “The Last of Us” or “Horizon”, whose last releases were not too far in the past anyway.
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PlayStation players don't have to miss out on new first-party games because of this statement. Because there are brands and ongoing productions that cannot be classified in the category mentioned. One such game could be a new “Astro Bot”. Insiders want to know about it.
In addition to God of War and Co, there is more
“Astro Bot” and other new releases were discussed by Giant Bomb journalist Jeff Grubb. According to him, Sony plans to release unannounced games from other established, albeit lesser-known IPs.
“We already know that Rise of the Ronin is coming. We know that Concord, one of the live service games, is scheduled to release later this year. These are the things that are definitely planned,” said Grubb. The first mentioned game will be released in March and is therefore still planned for Sony's current financial year.
Then there are “perhaps new games in existing franchises” that may be less relevant when Sony speaks to investors. “They said God of War, they said Spider-Man. These are the franchises that sell 15 million copies or more,” he continued.
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He himself has heard that “Astro” may return this year. If that assumption turns out to be true, it would be a pretty big deal for Grubb.
“I understand why Sony doesn't think this is a big deal for us, at least not yet. “Hopefully they can make it a big deal and then a lot of things will change,” continued the generally well-informed journalist.
In fact, Sony was able to deliver properly with “Astro Bot Rescue Mission,” which was released in 2018. The title had a Metascore of 90 and requires ownership of the PlayStation VR virtual reality headset.
“Astro's Playroom” was pre-installed on every PS5 in 2020 and familiarized players with the functions of the DualSense controller. The title can also can be downloaded for free from the PlayStation Store.
Astro developer Team Asobi was spun off as an independent studio in 2021 after Sony Interactive Entertainment dissolved the Japan studio.
PC release strategy aims to increase profit margins
Some of the games that will be released in the current and next fiscal years will also land on the PC. It's a strategy that Sony wants to further expand for the benefit of profit margins. “Helldivers 2”, which has been topping the Steam sales charts for days, may also have strengthened this desire.
In the wake of the latest annual report, Hiroki Totoki stated that the company needs to “work proactively” to release more games across multiple platforms. Although he spoke of “multiplatform”, he obviously meant the PC, so other consoles will probably continue to be left out.
“So if you have strong first-party content – not just on our console, but also on other platforms like computer – a first-party game can grow across multiple platforms. And that can help improve operating profits,” it says.
Sony announced updates this week Sales figures for the PS5 and also discussed the number of active PSN users.
Further news about Astro Bot, Sony.