New Astro Bot could come to PS5 this year claims insider-Adam Starkey-Entertainment – Metro

Astro’s Playroom was a celebration of PlayStation (Picture: Sony)

While Sony’s plans for 2024 looked bleak after a recent earnings call, it seems there is some hope for its exclusive line-up after all.

Despite stating it had no plans to release any new entries in ‘major’ franchises over the next fiscal year, Sony might still have some unannounced games from established IP up its sleeve.

Speaking about Sony’s comments on the Giant Bomb podcast, notable insider Jeff Grubb explained how the interpretation of ‘major’, from the company’s viewpoint, might be very different to the wider gaming audience.

Grubb then suggests a new Astro Bot, from developer Team Asobi, could be on the cards for this year, along with some other unannounced games from established franchises.

‘There might be new game entries in franchises that already exist, they just might not be major in PlayStation’s eyes when they’re talking to investors,’ Grubb said. ‘They said God Of War, they said Spider-Man, these are the franchises that sell 15 million copies lifetime or more.

‘I’ve heard maybe Astro does happen this year. If that happens, that’s pretty big for me, I get why Sony’s probably not thinking that’s a major one for us, at least not yet, hopefully they could turn it into a major one and then a lot of this changes around.’

On the same day, Grubb reiterated his comments on Twitter in response to a post pointing out the confirmed exclusives coming to PlayStation 5 this year, where he wrote: ‘Yeah. And there are other unannounced games from established IPs.’

Sony has some confirmed PlayStation 5 exclusive games coming out this year, albeit not from first party studios, including Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Stellar Blade, and Rise of the Rōnin.

Concord, a supposed live service shooter from Firewalk Studios, may also come out this year, although that’s less certain.

If the rumour about a new Astro Bot is true, It’s easy to see why Sony wouldn’t consider it a ‘major’ franchise. The first game, 2018’s Astro Bot Rescue Mission, was critically acclaimed but only released to a small audience on PlayStation VR.

Astro’s Playroom, meanwhile, was pre-installed on every PlayStation 5 console, so it didn’t have a chance to demonstrate its popularity through sales.

Astro Bot developer Team Asobi was spun off into a separate team in 2021, after being originally part of Japan Studio, which was dissolved by Sony.

We’ve had hints since then that they’re working on a new Astro Bot, with studio director Nicolas Doucet describing their next title as their ‘biggest to date’ in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz.

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What’s unclear is whether the new game will be a direct sequel to either Astro Bot: Rescue Mission or Astro’s Playroom. Rescue Mission was a stellar showcase for the original PlayStation VR, so it’s easy to see a follow-up landing on PlayStation VR2, but that will also limit its audience if Sony has ambitions to turn it into a juggernaut franchise.

While we’ll have to wait and see if these rumours are true, it’s a reminder that what Sony states to investors in financial reports might not always align with the interests, or perspective, of the wider gaming audience.

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