Sony says Astro Bot is more than four times the size of Astro’s Playroom, has no microtransactions | VGC

Sony has shared more information about its upcoming Astro Bot platformer, including details on its size and microtransactions.

Astro Bot was announced during a State of Play presentation last week. Set for release on September 6, the game puts the titular hero in his first ever full-sized non-VR adventure.

In a  FAQ on the game’s website, Sony confirms that the game will be significantly larger than Astro’s Playroom, the free game included with every PS5 console which took around three hours to beat.

In response to a question asking if the game would be free like Astro’s Playroom was, it replied: “No. Unlike ASTRO’s Playroom, ASTRO BOT is a standalone, full-sized adventure that offers over four times more worlds, 300 bots to rescue and dozens of new powers and features to discover.”

It also notes that there are no in-game purchases or microtransactions, saying: “No, each planet already has plenty of coins to find and spend in the Gatcha Lab.”

Sony also confirmed that the game will be single-player only, and that it won’t be released on PS4 or PlayStation VR2 (though a PC version isn’t mentioned, leaving the door open for a port in the future).

The PS5’s built-in Astro’s Playroom game has been widely praised by most for its charming presentation, and the way it arguably makes the best use of the DualSense controller to date.

The new game will consist of over 80 levels spread across six galaxies, so players will doubtless be hoping it will take what Astro’s Playroom did and replicate it on a grander scale.

The game’s reveal trailer has been almost universally praised, with 99% likes on YouTube at the time of writing.