Meet Astro, your new favorite video game mascot

On Thursday, by Sony The State of Play live stream showcased all of the company's gaming plans for the rest of 2024.

It was mostly a disappointment.

Apart from some updates for remakes like Silent Hill 2remasters like Until dawnand a computer port of God of War: Ragnarökthere were only a handful of new games to show off, the biggest of which was Firewalk Studios' Concorda new multiplayer shooter whose CGI-only trailer failed to show players much gameplay, leaving audiences mostly confused as to what the game was actually about.

The only bright spot was the stream's final announcement, a cute exit starring a chibi robot named Astro Bot. Now, that's something to get excited about.

Astro Bot is the first full-fledged platformer for the character, who has previously served as a PlayStation ambassador for new technology, appearing in tech demos in conjunction with new hardware releases. Astro first appeared in plain form in 2013 The Playroom, a collection of augmented reality games that came with the PlayStation 4 to showcase the capabilities of the console's PlayStation Camera and DualShock 4 controller. He would get top billing for 2018 Astro Bot Rescue Mission, another minigame-centric title created to showcase the capabilities of the PlayStation VR headset. His most recent appearance was on Astro's Playroomwhich served as a bundle title for a new console with the PlayStation 5 in 2020.

Now, Astro is making the jump to its own full game. But why would anyone care about a faceless robot that only appears in PlayStation tech demos?

First, he is cursed adorable. Despite having a pixelated display for a face, Astro embodies the theatricality of a pint-sized Pixar character with a relaxed demeanor and emotive body language. Astro's Playroom harnessed the horsepower of the PlayStation 5 to create a visually stunning world with the eponymous bot at its core, and in the process showed gamers that modern gaming could rival the look of most big-budget animated films.

Astro's Playroom it was a big advertisement for the PlayStation after all. It's a short game, taking perhaps three hours to complete, and is set entirely on a PlayStation 5 console with individual biomes that focus on using each of the system's features, such as the DualSense controller's adaptive triggers or motion controls. Players must learn how to best use the system's functionality to clear levels, along the way passing through scenes playfully recreated from the brand's biggest franchises such as Uncharted, God of Warand Resident Evil. You'll even collect PlayStations 1-4 and dozens of old pieces of tech from Sony's history for a visual museum.

It's really a lot of fun. As a self-serving celebration of all things PlayStation, it's unremarkable. But as a family platformer, it plays well and is surprisingly engaging. It's not exactly Sony's answer to Mario, but it shows the potential of what it could be.

That's why fans were outraged Astro Bot. Said to have over 50 worlds to explore, it looks to be PlayStation's first attempt in a long time to return to the kind of “mascot” platformer that defined much of the brand's early success with games such as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon on the original PlayStation. And while previous tech demos poked fun at the brand's other franchises with cheeky displays of bots dressed as its most famous characters, Astro Bot seems to go full blast Royal hearts route, which sees its protagonist jump through the various worlds of different games to adventure alongside chibi-bot versions of Nathan Drake, Kratos and others. From the trailer shown, the game seems to follow the basic movement, combat and exploration aspects of Playroom, but on a larger scale. Other details such as the length of the game or the new mechanics remain unknown.

This type of game with a brand ambassador type character is mostly a thing of the past. Aside from Nintendo's Mario, most of gaming's great mascots have fallen by the wayside over the past two decades as military shooters and mature-leaning fantasy sci-fi epics have taken over the industry. Characters like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragononce closely associated with the PlayStation brand, are now free agents that occasionally appear cross-platform for remasters or legacy sequels.

PlayStation's previous attempt to reignite mascot merchandising fever, of LittleBigPlanet Sackboy was mostly dropped as the series declined after 2014 LittleBigPlanet 3 and 2020 Sackboy: A Big Adventure. Even Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog is on life support as the 3rd party publisher is retiring Sonic games of all shapes and sizes without ever landing on a solid vision that will drive the speedster into the future.

With little competition, it's the perfect time for a new challenger to step up and bring back the video game mascot wars of the 90s, a task that suits Astro perfectly. Headlining the bundle that comes with every PS5 that ships, it's already in more than 50 million homes around the world. It's a tactic that made Mario a household name and could be the catalyst for the rise of a new franchise.

Someone, somewhere, in a Japanese boardroom is surely already plotting Astro's transition to a cross-media takeover. There is good money to bet that you will see Astro Bot coming to theaters this decade. And amid the fall and winter wave of horror AAA action games to come, Astro Bot may be the candy-colored relief players need this holiday season.

Well, embrace Astro, for he is the arbiter of things to come.