Summary

  • Astro Bot is receiving critical acclaim for its gameplay and references to iconic PlayStation franchises.
  • Despite positive reviews, Astro Bot and the PS5 are falling short in Japanese retail sales, with only under 12,700 and 9,097 copies sold.
  • Potential factors for the low sales include increased PS5 prices in Japan and a lack of data on digital sales.

The latest Japanese sales report paints some troubling news for PlayStation, especially when it comes to the recently released Astro Bot. Developer Team Asobi released Astro Bot as a follow-up to 2018’s Astro Bot Rescue Mission and 2020’s Astro’s Playroom earlier this month, with this latest entry in the budding series being a full-scale platformer celebrating 30 years of the PlayStation brand. In Astro Bot, players control the cute robot Astro, who needs to gather the broken parts of his PS5-like spaceship by journeying across planets inspired by various PlayStation games.

Ever since its release on the PS5 on September 6, Astro Bot has been met with glowing reviews for its impressive graphics, innovative platforming gameplay, and a plethora of references and cameos from beloved PlayStation franchises like God of War, Uncharted, Crash Bandicoot, and more. Astro Bot has even managed to become the highest-rated first-party PS5 game, outranking past hits like God of War Ragnarök and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on review aggregate websites like OpenCritic. Additionally, people are already predicting that Astro Bot will be a contender for Game of the Year at The Game Awards this December.

However, it looks like Astro Bot is falling short in Japanese game sales, at least according to the latest report from Famitsu (via Gematsu). In its listing for retail software sales for the week of September 2, 2024 to September 8, 2024, Astro Bot came in second place at under 12,700 copies sold, right behind Touhou Danmaku Kagura: Phantasia Lost at 16,631 units. This is a low showing for a first-party PlayStation release in Japan, but it should be noted that this list only counts physical copies sold at retailers.

Astro Bot, PlayStation 5 Console Fall Behind in Japanese Retail Sales

Meanwhile, the PlayStation 5 console itself is also slipping in Japanese retail sales, only ranking third place at 9,097 units sold. This places it just behind the Nintendo Switch OLED and handheld Nintendo Switch Lite, and is a considerable drop from the previous week’s reporting. A possible factor in this decrease in retail sales could be the recent spike in PS5 prices in Japan, which was announced late last month as a response to the global economic situation.

It should be noted that these recent PS5 and Astro Bot sales numbers only pertain to physical copies sold at retailers in Japan, and that the latter might fare better in digital sales and copies ordered from online retailers like Amazon. As the positive word-of-mouth surrounding Astro Bot continues to spread, the hit mascot platformer could also see a rise in physical units sold in Japan as the weeks go on, but so far it is off to a slow start.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image
Astro Bot Tag Page Cover Art
10 /10

Astro Bot
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Platformer
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Systems
PlayStation-1
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Top Critic Avg: 95 /100 Critics Rec: 99%
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Released
September 6, 2024
ESRB
E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence
Developer(s)
Team Asobi
Publisher(s)
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Engine
Proprietary Engine
Franchise
Astro Bot
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
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JOIN ASTRO IN A BRAND-NEW, SUPERSIZED SPACE ADVENTURE

The PS5® mothership has been wrecked, leaving ASTRO and the bot crew scattered all over the galaxies. Time to ride your trusty Dual Speeder across more than 50 planets full of fun, danger and surprises. On your journey, make the most of ASTRO’s new powers and reunite with many iconic heroes from the PlayStation universe! 

Blast off on a supersized adventure

From sandy beaches to lush jungles and piping-hot volcanoes, explore a myriad of memorable planets in search of Astro’s lost crew!

Power up your platforming

With your new powers, battle out a whole new roster of quirky baddies and huge bosses. Feel every hop, punch and crack through your DualSense wireless controller.

Join the PlayStation celebration

Reunite with over 150 iconic PlayStation heroes and celebrate 30 years of PlayStation history! 

Platform(s)
PlayStation 5
Genre(s)
Platformer
PS Plus Availability
N/A