PlayStation says it’s planning to release more family games like Astro Bot
Sony says the platfomer’s awards success validates its plan to expand in the family genre
PlayStation says it’s planning to release more family games in the future, following the success of Game of the Year platformer Astro Bot.
Speaking during an earnings call on Thursday, Sony president Hiroki Totoki highlighted the Team Asobi platformer’s recent awards success, and said that it validated its intention to expand its family offerings in the future.
“At The Game Awards 2024, our first-party title Astro Bot won four categories, including Game of the Year and Best Family Game – the most of any title,” he said.
“In addition, the live service game Helldivers 2, which was released in February last year, won Best Ongoing Game and Best Multiplayer Game awards. The fact that titles in genres we are planning to expand in the future, including titles for families and live service games, have received these awards is a major stride towards building a broad title portfolio.”
Astro Bot has been a critical hit for PlayStation in a genre it’s less frequently targeted in the modern era. Astro Bot won Game of the Year at The Game Awards, Game of the Year at the New York Game Awards, and earned numerous outlet accolades, including VGC’s Game of the Year award.
According to Sony, the title sold 1.5 million units in its first nine weeks, a significant chunk of which was to new players. In Europe, Astro Bot is said to have outperformed virtually any non-Super Mario new 3D platform game released in the last decade.
Commenting on the game around its launch, PlayStation studios boss Hermen Hulst claimed the Astro Bot IP was a “very, very” important brand for PlayStation going forward.
“Astro is very, very important to PlayStation,” he said. “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.”
