
While the Circana (NPD) report for September's US video game sales has yet to be released, the firm's own Mat Piscatella has weighed in on Astro Bot's sales performance thus far. Unfortunately, we haven't seen official figures from Sony (and probably won't unless they're truly noteworthy), and have so far had to rely on information from the UK market. The story has been somewhat mixed, but it's a little clearer across the Atlantic.
Piscatella posted on Bluesky, commenting on how PS5's superlative platformer is doing in the charts:
According to the Circana analyst, in its first week on the market, Astro Bot was second only to NBA 2K25 in the USA, including physical and digital sales. In addition, the Astro Bot DualSense controller was the week's best-selling accessory. "Solid week 1," Piscatella says.
So, it sounds as though the game is doing perfectly fine in terms of sales. Its position in the US monthly chart for September will make things clearer still, and hopefully Sony will grace us with a proper number in the near future. It seems to us that the game won't be breaking any major records, but will still prove to be a success, given its shorter dev cycle, smaller team, and lower budget than Sony's typical output.
Did you contribute to Astro Bot's "solid" launch week sales in the US? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source bsky.app, via resetera.com]
Comments 59
Second? 😪
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a flop by any means and the game itself is just perfect, but I really did hope this to become a runaway success for Sony so that we might get more of these smaller scale but such fun games, it’s looking we’re just not in that scenario…
It's... something!
I calculated that it sold over a million copies so far, so I think it's pretty decent launch
Astro Bot coming in second is a huge success. Going up against NBA 2K25 was always going to be a tough game to beat, especially in the US.
Love Astro Bot and can't wait to see what Team Asobi do next.
@IOI I mean it coming second to 2K is a good thing. NBA 2K is usually one of the biggest games of the year so it was always going to be a tough game to beat.
I did and that’s awesome to hear. Astro deserves it.
@IOI I still think Sony will consider this a success.
Hopefully now we can put this narrative that Astro Bot "flopped" to bed now.
Now that's more like it Go Astro. I got mine and controller on day one. I hope Sony gives us the figures. Super interesting.
Awesome game, bit disappointing it's not huge success, but hopefully it's good enough to warrant sequels/DLC.
Bought it day one. Probably the only game I'll pay full MSRP for this year, with the only possible exception being Metaphor.
@AdamNovice Yeah second Place for the first week is a success. Don't see how people think Astro has flopped at all.
NBA2k is a juggernaut every year so it's no surprise.
For a full priced non Mario 3d platformer to do well is so important to the industry. My friends list is just full of Astro Bot all last week. I'm sure when the dust settles and the numbers come out it'll have very respectable launch.
Now the only question is what were the expectations from Sony. It doesn't usually feel like a huge deal if a game does decent vs good vs great, but this one really feels like a referendum on sub-AAA/lighter games and could have a substantial impact on what gets greenlit moving forward.
I have no idea what would warrant a success in Sony's eyes for this, so should be interesting to hear!
Word mouth should also help it sale good. Would be great Christmas pack in for this holiday.
Assuming kids are the main audience target, releasing the game almost at the same time it’s back to school day, not sure it was the best strategy to maximize the sales.
Astro Bot still did well. NBA 2K games just sell like pancakes (sadly). From where I live, NBA games always sells easily every year (despite them being nearly the same as the previous titles)
What these analysts don't talk about because it's not their job obviously is expectations. Sony said it at the beginning of the year don't expect big IPs until at least March of 2025.
Obviously that's how the corporations see things, that doesn't affect people now seeing Astro as a big IP.
The point is, this game was never going to sell 20 millions like Spider man or GOW but the fact is that the game is selling well. It looks like it's going to sell more than Ratchet and that makes it a success on it's own.
They would have sold a couple million more copies globally if it had been PSVR2 compatible. I bounced off it after the first world. It’s just a second rate Astro Bot to anyone who played Astro Bot Rescue Mission I’m sorry to say.
@B0udoir nope. Paw Control videogame is a game for kids. Astro, Horizon Adventures and most Nintendo games are family games. There is a difference.
If we, the people who enjoy these kind of games don't mark the line then we are only giving chances for the regular Joe who wants everything to be ultra realistic to keep looking down at amazing experiences like these just because they are "kid games".
@thefourfoldroot1 Bold of you to assume there’s that many PSVR2 active users!
@thefourfoldroot1 I played Astro Bot Rescue and judging for the elitism you are using to talk about the game I think the problem is you not the game lol.
@GymratAmarillo I haven't played Astro Bot on ps5 yet, but the PSVR1 game was ace. Really unique experience
@GymratAmarillo
Elitism? How is it elitism? I just said it’s a second rate version of the old game. Which is objectively correct. The same way my eyesight would be second rate if I gouged an eye out and lost all depth perception. I’m not looking to argue about something so obvious.
I appreciate the game. The devs excuse for not making a better version alongside it is just pitiful though.
@naruball it is and I'm not saying that you should think Astro Bot is better, but there is a difference between our preferences and talk like what we don't like that much is "second rate" lol, specially when both things come from the same developer, come from the same franchise and both are awesome on their own.
I feel like fear that Astro flopped is largely based in the fact that we’ve had so few “hits” this year. Almost every big game released this year hit at #1, so seeing that it’s in #2 sounds weaker than it might’ve sounded in other circumstances. It’s competing against a game that would make massive sales just by existing though, as sports games typically do. Seems like Astro has had a strong start and word of mouth may very well keep the hype coming. I’d love to see Astro become THE holiday title this year.
@dskatter
There aren’t, there are maybe half that. This game in VR would have sold a million headsets. Most people who played Rescue Mission on VR1 would have been dying to play a true version of this.
No one seems to be seeing the wood for the trees. It’s a kids game mun… kids don’t spend £60 wil-nil like us wage-slaves. They wait until Christmas and birthdays… expect this one to have a long tail.
@thefourfoldroot1 and I'm not looking to argue either. I'm just saying that if you can't make a difference in expectations between a VR game and a game that isn't then you are the problem lol.
@thefourfoldroot1 I sincerely doubt this would sell anywhere near that many. You could very well be correct, but I just don’t see it. Maybe a few thousand, but nowhere near the number you think.
@GymratAmarillo My point is that right now families are more busy with buying school supplies, scheduling all the sport and arts activities for the year, and getting used to the new routine, rather than rushing buying a video game. Spring or Fall break would be a moment where people cool down and are more inclined to enjoy this kind of game.
@GymratAmarillo
Yes, I freely admit I got caught by the hype. Which I never do. But Rescue Mission was the best platformer of all time, I was excited. Even knowing we lost depth (I know this is now essentially for me with platformers), scale, being present with the game all around you…even knowing this I thought it would be great. Instead it is merely very very good. I now know how much better VR is in a like for like comparison and I won’t make the same mistake.
@dskatter
If you were part of the PSVR community, you would know how desperate people are for this game in VR. Not to mention the faith it would give people in Sony making a hybrid game for it.
So apparently Astro Bot Rescue Mission sold 204,546 digital copies total, after some quick googling. Might have gone up slightly but around there.
I suspect this Astro Bot game utterly demolished that number in a week.
@thefourfoldroot1 The cost is exactly why I will never be part of that community, sadly! If I won’t drop $699 on a PS5 Pro, I sure as hell won’t spend nearly that much on a peripheral.
Good for Astro Bot and Team Asobi. The game is incredible.
Also, good for Mat who I see is not using Twitter anymore, presumably because Elon is a clown.
@dskatter
I wouldn’t even consider spending that on a Pro when it offers no new gameplay experiences, just better res and ray tracing…
To spend half that on PSVR2 however (when on sale) is a no brainer. Completely new gameplay experiences, a full new roster of hundreds of games, it’s just so joyful. Anyone bored of the same old pancakes should definitely try it.Makes a lot more sense than PS5, and then a PC or Xbox.
Sad to see. The PS5 is a fantastic console but there's just nothing I want. I'll be picking up EA sports 25, until dawn remake & undisputed boxing along with marvel vs capcom collection soon so at least there's that but where is the games on the level of God of war, uncharted ect? I want new IPs not remakes
@IOI it was outsold by an annualized Sports game that most casuals mindlessly buy every year. It was never going to outsell that which probably sold 5+million on PS alone
@nedbvai I highly recommend Stellar blade if you want a new IP
@IOI Astro Bot was never going to beat NBA 2K. We have to be realistic here.
@thefourfoldroot1 Not for me, I’ve got a PS5, Switch and Series X. I’ve spent enough money on gaming hardware the last few years, I don’t need to add more to the pile. Especially since I’d only play maybe three games using it. For those who like it tho, I’m sure it would be worth the purchase!
I just beat the final challenge so I'm over the moon 🥳🥳
@thefourfoldroot1 "They would have sold a couple million more copies globally if it had been PSVR2 compatible"
How would making it compatible to a platform with less life than the Vita (compare their first two years!) help the game?
"It’s just a second rate Astro Bot to anyone who played Astro Bot Rescue Mission I’m sorry to say."
You were going to say that regardless of the games quality just because it's not in VR! Could have been an 100% in metacritic and sold 10 mil and you would probably still consider it second rate trash 🤷
@Tecinthebrain
I didn’t say it was trash. I have it. I’ll probably finish it at some point. It’s just not as good out of VR. Not sure how you can possibly even doubt that if you’ve played Rescue Mission. It’s self evident. Even if you haven’t logic should tell you.
I'm so glad this game had a solid sales debut.
While it isn’t a mega-hit like I initially expected (not every game has to sell billions to be considered a hit), it’s still a rare success for an original PlayStation game based on a diverse genre. Astro's Playroom being a free pack-in title for PS5 at launch certainly helped this game to sell good.
Not even Tearaway Unfolded or Dreams would reach that high in sales and I wished for these games to sell the same high numbers as Astro Bot.
Here's hoping Sony announces the sales numbers soon like they did with Rift Apart.
@AdamNovice That was mostly xbot cope. Astro Bot is doing well, especially for a AA game.
@Milt Crash bandicoot N Sane trilogy sold 2.5M in its first 3 months, I’m fairly certain Astro Bot is ahead of that rate. I suspect it sold close to 2m in its first week based on extrapolation from player numbers from third party trackers.
Coming in second to an NBA game seems like a pretty good result for any platformer without "Super Mario" in the title.
Glad it seems to have debuted well in NA. Considering the game's Amazon chart position, I'm not surprised.
@Oram77 I'll give it shot! It's one I've been looking at
Seems like it's doing well, I think anywhere between 3-5 million units sold by the end of the year would be classed as a success.
Really glad the sales seem to be decent.
@UltimateOtaku91 The UK analyst Christopher Dring added a bit more context in a follow up tweet about how well it's currently doing in the UK.
According to him Astro Bot is the fastest-selling original platformer IP outside of Mario in the last decade, beating the likes of iconic names like Sonic, Kirby, Crash Bandicoot, at least in the UK.
@MrMagic Looks like things are looking very positive for the game and hopefully a sequel gets greenlit. Will likely sell even more once it gets some game of the year awards to its name.
I'm glad it's selling well in the US (and UK). I got the feeling it already sold 1 million copies. But it's clear Sony can't rely on Japan to buy their games anymore.
@nedbvai These are some new IP published / advertised by Sony. Go buy them:
Knowing Sony's track record, they will shut down the studio because it didn't sell 10 million units.
@UltimateOtaku91 Sony care a lot about metacritic scores. So from that alone, i think they already considered Astro Bot as a big success.
But the game developed by 60 people in 3 years. My guess is selling 1 million copies already enough for break even and earn some profit.
considering nba 2k 25 is on multiple systems astrobot second place showing is fantastic since it is on only one system..
@ChrisDeku Oh, got it. Thanks for the clarification.
I don’t know why people were expecting this game to be a huge hit among the PlayStation base. PlayStation and Xbox tend to have a more “serious” console base. Meaning less people interested in the Nintendo style of games. For the record I’m not hating on these types of games at all as there is a market for them too. Just not so big on PS. I guess people thought the drought of first party games would lead people to buy this just because of PS studios on the box. Little big planet was the same despite it also being a good game series.
Coming second to NBA2K in it's launch week, typically one of the USA's best selling games annually, is no shame. But without hard numbers it's hard to know if it was close or miles away.
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