PlayStation Says Astro Bot Will Not Feature Microtransactions

The PS5 platformer will also be a lot bigger than Astro's Playroom.

By Marc Deschamps

During last week's PlayStation State of Play, Astro Bot stole the spotlight with a delightful new trailer. The character will be starring in an all-new adventure, which will feature lots of callbacks to classic PlayStation games. Video game fans are an understandably jaded bunch, so many have been wondering "what's the catch?" Well, the game's official website has a Q&A, and it offers some more details, including whether or not the game will have anything in terms microtransactions. Thankfully, it seems that won't be the case, as "each planet already has plenty of coins to find and spend in the Gatcha Lab." 

In addition to that particularly nice detail, PlayStation also revealed just how much bigger the game will be compared to Astro's Playroom. While Playroom mainly served as a tech demo for the PS5 (and the DualSense in particular), PlayStation is treating Astro Bot as a full game, which means players can expect a lengthier campaign. According to the website's Q&A, Astro Bot will feature "over four times more worlds." The game will also feature 300 Bots to rescue, including 150 "VIP Bots" based on famous PlayStation characters. 

Astro Bot Platforms

Astro Bot will be a PS5 exclusive, and will not be available on PS4. That's bound to disappoint some people, given the fact that there are still a significant number of games still coming out on PS4. At this point though, it makes sense, and the game will probably feature some clever use of the DualSense. Astro's Playroom really showed what the controller is capable of, and it looks like that might continue with the new game. 

In fact, the trailer for Astro Bot shows that the DualSense will play a significant role in the game, taking on the form of Astro's "Dual Speeder." The vehicle will help Astro navigate the game's various worlds, as he seeks out his missing friends. 

A Compelling New Exclusive

Over the last two console generations, PlayStation has predominantly focused on narrative driven single-player games like Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel's Spider-Man, and The Last of Us. Astro Bot seems like an opportunity for the company to jump back into the platforming genre, offering a bit more diversity as far as first-party titles are concerned. It remains to be seen whether Astro Bot's standalone game will be worth paying for, but hopefully it improves on everything people enjoyed about his first PS5 outing! 

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Are you planning to check out Astro Bot? Do these details make you more likely to try it? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

[H/T: Video Games Chronicle]

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