Astro Bot

Astro Bot is a 2024 PlayStation 5 platform game developed by Team Asobi and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It gives Astro, the small white robot previously seen in Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Astro’s Playroom, a full-scale adventure. The game was released on September 6, 2024.

The story begins when the alien Nebulax attacks a spaceship shaped like a PlayStation 5. Nebulax steals its CPU, breaks the ship apart, and scatters Astro’s fellow bots across space. Astro sets out to recover the missing crew and ship components, traveling between planets in a craft shaped like the PS5’s DualSense controller. Rescued bots gather at the crash site, where their growing numbers help Astro reach new areas and rebuild the mothership.

Each planet presents a different set of platforming challenges. Astro jumps, hovers, punches enemies, and searches for bots hidden away from the main route. Temporary abilities change how particular levels work: the Twin-Frog Gloves extend his punches and let him swing from surfaces, while Barkster, a bulldog-like companion, gives him a powerful forward dash. Other stages let Astro grow into an enormous sponge or slow time. The DualSense controller is central to the design, using haptic feedback and adaptive triggers to distinguish actions and surfaces.

The bots Astro rescues are also a tour through PlayStation history. Some wear costumes based on characters from Sony games and other titles associated with the platform, including Kratos from God of War, Nathan Drake from Uncharted, and Aloy from Horizon. Several levels go further than a costume reference. “Bot of War” gives Astro an axe inspired by Kratos’s weapon, while “Dude Raiding” draws on Uncharted’s treasure-hunting adventures. “Apes on the Loose” pays tribute to Ape Escape by having Astro pursue escaped monkeys.

Astro Bot builds on Team Asobi’s earlier work rather than introducing its hero from nowhere. Astro appeared in the “Robot Rescue” portion of The Playroom VR before starring in the 2018 PlayStation VR game Astro Bot Rescue Mission. Astro’s Playroom, included with the PS5 at its 2020 launch, then used short platforming stages to demonstrate the DualSense. The 2024 game expands that approach into a larger journey, with more planets, collectible bots, and boss encounters.

Its reception brought unusual prominence to a character-led platform game: Astro Bot won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024. It also won Best Game Direction, Best Action/Adventure Game, and Best Family Game, recognizing a release built around precise movement, controller-specific play, and decades of PlayStation references.