During a recent episode of the Official PlayStation podcast, Hermen Hulst, the head of PlayStation studios, commented on the success of Astro Bot, noting that it will be a “very, very” important brand for PlayStation going into the future.
Reception to the game, which was released last week, has been exceptional, with many players calling for it to be added as a Game of the Year nominee and with dozens of outlets giving it a 10/10.
“Astro is very, very important to PlayStation,” said Hulst. “Obviously, we had the pre-install with the PlayStation 5 that millions have embraced and loved, and I think that’s becoming a little bit of a platform to launch this new game now.
It’s remarkable that a very small team is able to deliver a game that is so big, it’s really become a great game in itself, and it’s become a celebration of everything PlayStation at this point.”
Team Asobi has announced that the game will receive DLC in the future, including 10 additional challenge levels and five speedrun levels. No release date for this additional content has been announced.
“It’s massively important that PlayStation studios develops games in various genres and the family market is really important for us to focus on,” Hulst continued. Recently, Sony has focused on realistic triple-A titles, but it’s clear that gaming audiences are eager for something fresh.
Astro Bot was released on September 6 for PlayStation 5. Last month, the game’s creative director Nicolas Doucet explained that while the title has no plans to come to the PlayStation VR2, Astro Bot may come to PC in the future if there is enough player interest–and it seems that player interest is at an all-time high.