Astro Bot Expands with Weekly Speedrun Levels and New Special Bots Starting Tomorrow

Sony has announced the schedule for the release of Astro Bot's post-launch speedrun levels, starting tomorrow, October 17, with new content arriving weekly.

Beginning with tomorrow's launch of the Building Speed level, players will have access to five new stages, each featuring two new Special Bots to rescue, as revealed by Team Asobi studio director Nicolas Doucet in a PlayStation Blog post. These additions are designed to challenge your platforming abilities, and an online leaderboard will allow players to compete with their friends on PlayStation.

In Building Speed, players will team up with Barkster, the bulldog helper, navigating a bustling city in the sky. Expect to dodge construction equipment, break through crates, and even speed through a flying car wash on the mission to save your crew.

Each week will bring a fresh speedrun level, ensuring that as soon as you master the jumps, hovers, and spins in one area, a new challenge will be ready for you to tackle. All updates for Astro Bot from October 17 to November 14 will launch every Thursday at 6am PT / 2pm BST / 10pm JST, culminating in a total of 10 new Special Bots being added to the game. So far, Eve from Stellar Blade and figures from Helldivers feature been confirmed, but further reveals are yet to come, according to Doucet.

Doucet has hinted at additional post-launch support for Astro Bot, suggesting that more surprises may be on the horizon. With its high praise as a PS5-exclusive 3D platformer, Astro Bot showcases 173 cameos from various PlayStation titles, though notable characters from the Final Fantasy series are notably missing, a fact that has drawn attention from fans due to the franchise's longstanding relationship with PlayStation.

When asked about the absence of Cloud from Final Fantasy, Doucet acknowledged that Team Asobi had intended to include him but encountered challenges that prevented his addition. He emphasized the importance of respecting each publisher’s decisions in this matter.