Astro Bot Countdown Celebration Is A Reminder That The PS5 Comes With An Amazing Free Game

Long gone are the days of standing outside a GameStop at midnight waiting for the official release of a new Halo or Final Fantasy. But Team Asobi brought the festive vibes back with a launch party for its newest game, inside of an older one.

Astro’s Playroom was a “free” pack-in for the PlayStation 5 that showed off new features, including the haptic feedback of the DualSense controller. But it was more than just an elaborate tech demo, and established the Astro franchise, previously a VR-exclusive, as a budding Sony first-party A-lister. Leading up to the release of the third game, Astro Bot, Team Asobi even added a countdown timer to the mission room in Astro’s Playroom for the September 6 launch.

That’s where players were able to wait ahead of actually being able to play Astro Bot and watch all of the little guys count down like it was New Year’s Eve 1999. It was a neat little easter egg that’s in keeping with the franchise’s dedication to celebrating PlayStation’s past and taking time to add little touches that make the whole thing feel extra special.

Astro Bot is out now on PlayStation 5 and I’m not alone in thinking it’s a strong frontrunner for GOTY and also one of the best 3D platformers ever. It’s full of whimsical little touches and dazzling set pieces, with levels that revolve around clever mechanics and make full use of the DualSense controller, from the haptic triggers to the speaker. It all gives playing the game the same tactile satisfaction of playing with toys in real life.

But the seeds of many of those ideas, including blowing onto the touch pad to to create wind gusts in the game, were there in Astro’s Playroom, a short game not enough people played despite it being free with each of the over 60 million PS5s that have been sold so far. It only takes three hours to beat and will give you a nice taste of what to expect in Astro Bot. Plus, it will give you a point of reference to see how far the franchise has come in just four years, and a new appreciation for all of the novel ways the new game iterates on what Team Asobi experimented with before.