Astro Bot Sells 1.5 Million PS5 Copies Inside Nine Weeks

It's good that it is selling and will likely make a profit, just a bit underwhelming considering how good the game actually is. As long as we get more 3D platformers I'm happy.

I wonder how they gather that “new user” data. It’s an interesting statistic and I don’t doubt that it’s correct, but how does Sony know if I’ve purchased one of their games in the last 2 years? Perhaps they mean “played” one of their games in the last two years and they are using trophy data attached to their user profiles.

Ahhh, I am so happy to hear that.

@Th3solution Maybe they here mean only the purchases from the PS store. This way they will know since they have your history.
Not sure how they count if I buy second hand game and install it - is this a buy or not a buy.
Interesting indeed.

Fully Deserved

I like Astro Bot, but give me Ratchet over it every single time

I had a fantastic time with Astro Bot, squeezing nearly thirty hours of gameplay out of it and grabbing the platinum. It’s also comfortably eclipsed the likes of Stellar Blade, Echoes of Wisdom and FFVII Rebirth as my personal game of the year. Man, you really can’t beat a top tier 3D platformer!

@Sergo I'm fairly sure @Th3solution's got it with the trophy data. There's loads of useful data Sony and Developers can mine from it.

Wonderful game.

Seriously though, If you play this game and don't find at least some form of enjoyment from it (particularly if you're a fan of Playstation in general), then I'm sorry but there must be something wrong with you lol.

It's an absolute masterpiece and has so many little nods of PS history in it that it just can't fail to make you smile.

@somnambulance better than Stellar Blade? I beg to differ. Those are teo different games. You could say that you prefer Astro bot more than SB. I have bought FF7 Rebirth, Stellar Blade and I have 0 interest in Astro Bot. But I am not claiming that SB is better game because of that.

@Th3solution you really think that Sony cant see all data connected to your PSN account? If you havent launched those games on your account, you dont have that game.

@REALAIS This silent robot has more personality than the whole cast of Stellar Blade combined.

Those Demon Souls, Returnal and Ratchet and Clank lifetime sales numbers seem shockingly low to me. Have they even made their budgets back?

Great game. Watch Sony ruin it.

@Max_the_German I don't doubt it. It is probably one of best PS5 games, especially if Controller vibration is thing you like, I love games with great Haptic Feedback. But platformers in general is not my cup of tea.

I was one of those "new users". Hadn't bought a game from the first party library since Rift Apart (and again later on PC for better performance and convenience).

Heck, It's a joke amongst friends that every time I turn my PS5 on it has to do a year's worth of updates.

Those are not lifetime sales figures for Ratchet and Returnal. Ratchet sold 1.1 million by July 2021. That's in its first month. It will have likely far surpassed this number as PS5 adoption grew and since it was released on PC.

The Returnal sales figure mentioned is also from that same month. Both are almost three and a half years old.

@__jamiie They’re actually not even remotely close to lifetime sales, they’re just the last published official numbers. I believe from the Insomniac leak Returnal had sold around 1m in it’s first year and R&C was around 4M in March 2023.

It really deserves to have a long tail sales curve too. Hopefully it’ll double those sales before long. What a game!

@LowDefAl @ChrisDeku Thanks both for clarifying. Those numbers did seem absolutely ridiculous to me.

Very misleading article.

Actually Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart as sold 4 million

@REALAIS @Sergo Yeah, the physical sales is the one variable that simply using PSN sales data would miss and could affect the accuracy of this number. And if launching the game is the metric to count as a sale, then that also doesn’t account for multiple users in a household.
Scenario 1: Steve buys a physical copy of Spider-Man 2 and then buys Astrobot digitally. Is he a “new user”?
Scenario 2: Steve hasn’t bought any Sony games in 2 years but buys Astro Bot on disc but hasn’t played it yet. Is he being counted as a “new user”?
Scenario 3: Steve has bought and played TLoU2 Remastered this year, then buys Astro Bot, plays it. He has a wife and a 11 yr old daughter and an 8 yr old son, none of which played TLoU2. They all play that copy of Astro Bot on their own PSN accounts. Is that being counted as 3 “new user” sales?
Scenario 4: (and this is closer to my situation) Steve has bought on sale GoWR, HFW, and GT7 on disc this year. He hasn’t played any of them and they sit on his pile of backlog shame. He buys Astro Bot digitally. Is he counted as a new user even though he’s bought 3 Sony games this year and just hasn’t played them yet?
Scenario 5: Steve has PS+ Extra and rarely buys games. He’s played TLoU1 and Demon’s Souls this year through PS+. He buys Astro Bot. Is he not counted as a “new user”? If he’s playing all the games via the service, technically he’s a new purchaser but his trophy list may have many Sony games the past 2 years.

Anyway, there’s just lots of variables to account for. I think the data is probably real in the sense Astro Bot has allowed them to tap into a new market, the family and kid-friendly market who often don’t engage with their games. It’s just the exactness of that “37%” number should probably be taken with a grain of salt. It’s almost certainly a measure of new engagement with a Sony game rather than a sales metric. I would be curious to see of the 1.5 million games sold, how many different users have launched the game? I suspect Scenario #3 is quite common and so 2 or more people in a household are playing the game because it’s rated E and so it’s going to skew the numbers. So 1.5 million x .37 = 555K people who’ve not bought a Sony product in 2 years? That’s probably not a legitimate number.

Also, I do think they might mean a “new user” hasn’t bought one of Sony’s new releases in the last 2 years, so in other words hasn’t bought SM2, Helldivers2, Until Dawn Remake, etc. I imagine people who bought Demon’s Souls this year but nothing else would still be considered a “new user”, but it’s hard to tell from their explanation.

@LowDefAl I was about to say I'm sure I read somewhere that R&C smashed that number...

The game is fun but it's definitely a one and done for me. AstroBot on the other hand I'll probably pick up a few times before it sits on the shelf for the rest of eternity.

@dark_knightmare2 This is probably in relation to the first 9 weeks of sales. I bet with sales and stuff that its sales will gradually increase overtime

@somnambulance Have to hard disagree, AstroBot is nowt like Stellar Blade and Spidey 2, although I don't think I'd group those 2 together either.
I think all 3 are excellent in their own right, with MSM2 being the weaker of the bunch, and both SB and MSM2 both have story issues.

Agree unequivocally with your thoughts on how Sony should bear this in mind going forward though. Still know a couple of holdouts rocking a PS4 though, because whatever the smeg FIFA is called these days...

Astrobot unfortunately won't win back bunch of people that feel their interests aren't being served by the PS5. It also won't cause a bunch more similar games to appear in the next year.

It may however hopefully prove to PS bosses they need to diversify their games lineup for the PS6.

@Th3solution you go into much details Who knows what kind of information they have.
I would speculate that each game could have Unique identifier, and they could easily see who plays second hand game in that way. Unless you keep console without ever going online, very unlikely. I would assume that they would have such system to track specific data like that. Each car in world has Unique identifiers, why wouldnt games, which are sold in lower volume wouldnt had that?

MORE GAMES LIKE THIS SONY!!

@REALAIS Haha! 😅 I definitely get lost in the weeds sometimes. It’s just that it’s a minor pet peeve of mine when data is used which is either not valid or is conflated and not related to the conclusion being drawn from them. We just had an election and so I’ve been in my “skeptical of statistics that are thrown around” mode. 😄 Numbers can be spun and manipulated in many ways and often companies, people, or governments report stats that aren’t measuring that they think they’re measuring.

And I’m not saying Sony is misleading us or erroneously coming to the conclusion that Astro Bot has reached a new audience. I believe it’s correct, and this number may be the most accurate assessment they can come up with to prove that, but I believe it’s healthy to just verify where numbers are coming from because, like they say — “67.3% of statistics are made up.” 😜

@Gamer83 “ Massive failure by the PS fanbase once again. “

Ok don’t you think that’s a little harsh, besides, you know, putting the blame in the entirely wrong direction? 🤷🏻‍♂️

It’s a 12 hour long game for $60, that’s single player, and is still being updated, that launched probably a month earlier than it should have for holiday sales, which it will get b/c of the graphics that make it look likes a kids game. And nowadays a lot of kids are playing free to start games like Roblox and Fortnite. So it’s probably less the fanbase’s fault, more the parents fault.😂

Ok joking aside, the game will be $30 Black Friday, or available in a B1G1 50% off sale, making it $30. Single player games like this will not stay full MSRP for long. Well until we go all digital, then they never have to get lower in price b/c zero competition.🤑

Massive failure by the PS fanbase once again. Yeah, no, this one’s Squarely on Sony for the pricing and timing of the release. On 2nd thought it’s not a massive failure, by anyone, game is probably selling as it should for now. Who knows, maybe people are waiting for it to come to a rental service they pay $100+ a year for. That’s probably a part of it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I am glad they didn't go with a VR game.

Deserves more sales, but this is just the beggining. It will have a long tail, no doubt. Still hasn't had any price cuts. I am waiting for one. 😁

@Th3solution when New audience is everyone who hasnt bought 1st party game in 2 years, it is already stretching something. Imagine selling 65million PS5, game sell 1.5million copies. And 37% is new audience. Companies like to create beautiful statistics with large numbers

@rjejr Everygame has to sell 10 million copies or it is failure It is specific game for specific audience. It straight away goes to PS5 Classic games imo, and will be touted as one of best PS5 games. Even if I dont like it, I think it is success and hopefully they didnt spent 100million for development and it is already in proffit. Not all games has to be blockbusters.

Been tryna get my soon of 5 years old into video games and he dips in here and there with his switch but with astro bot he's locked in and treasure hunters every bot, every puzzle piece and the secret levels. He even asks who's the character bots and where they're from.. great gaming dad moment

Good news and congrats to Team Asobi / Sony 👏🍻

@Gamer83 For an unknown IP that started as a VR game, the fact this 2nd game can sold 1.5 million copies in 9 weeks since release + 94% at Metacritic is definitely not sucks nor a massive failure.

Not to mention this game doesn't have AAA budget. So big chance Astro Bot already break even + make profits for Sony.

@REALAIS Absolutely. And like I mentioned, it makes a difference if they are calculating this according to all first party games, or is it all first party games released in the last 2 years. Because guess what — unless I’m missing something there has been only 4 other first party releases in the last two years: MLB The Show, Spidey 2, TLoU2 Remaster, and Concord.

I’m an absolute Sony enthusiast and I’ve only bought one of those and I bet there’s lots of people who have bought none of those but have bought other Sony games or some of the many second party releases the last couple years (Helldivers, Rise of the Ronin, Stellar Blade, Until Dawn, FF16, etc). So it’s a completely different conclusion if that’s what they are putting in the denominator.

@REALAIS It’s a comparison you can make if you’ve played both games, for me it’s indeed better than Stellar Blade but my GOTY remains FFVII Rebirth, even tho all 3 games as vastly different from each other.

My GotY across all consoles/platforms, easy. Nothing else even comes close.

@Gamer83 lmao that number def doesn’t suck and that’s why Sony called it a hit. It will have legs this holiday and its budget being so low means it’s already turned a healthy profit but yes continue to try to take positive news and make it seem bad smh.

@IOI I just started to play FF7 Rebirth on PRO. Still in Prologue, but imo it looks so much better and it kooks on another level in Versatility mode. I wouldnt really put Stellar close to GOTY, it is specific type of game, but it is great Action game tho.

So 60.5 million(ish) of you didn't bother 😔😞

@dark_knightmare2 1.5 million sales isn’t a hit by any metric and I’ve never heard Sony call this game a hit. It already fell off every chart, so what legs?

In 2024 that’s not impressive numbers.

@Shad361 Must be hard for you to see this game sold well huh 🤣

@PuppetMaster define “well”. These are average numbers at best. Especially for a 94 meta game,that everyone on the internet said they “wanted more of”, yet only like 1 in 60 PS5 owners bought the game.

Any half decent game with a name can sell a million copies these days,that’s the floor now.

@__jamiie The article isn’t misleading. Liam isn’t saying Astro has outsold those games. He’s saying Astro is selling more copies in the same amount of time (first 9 weeks) than the other games did in their first 9 weeks. Hence why he said “ across roughly the same timespan after launch.”

In about the same timeframe, The Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom sold more than 2.3 million. Sooo... I dunno. I wanna say this is a success, but it definitely doesn't feel like that big of one. Which is a shame, because it's easily one of the best games of the year, and one of the best things PlayStation has put out this generation.

We'll see if it has legs, but looking through a Switch software sales list for reference doesn't paint a promising picture with this figure.

This strikes me as disappointing for the only first party release of the year. Star Wars Outlaws sold a similar amount and that was considered a failure. Luigi's Mansion sold like 15 million.

@somnambulance the games you listed are completely different types of games. I don’t think Astro bot is a bad game but I had no interest in it on the PS4 nor do I now. There is a market for all types of games to be made by Sony. I’ve always found game of the year awards lame. As there are so many different categories that launch each respective year.

@CrispyMango92 The article WAS misleading but has since been amended. It gave lifetime sales for each game that were below Astro Bot.

The PS base isn’t necessarily the Nintendo base. It seems that many were expecting this game to sell way more. I think the reality is that there just isn’t as many PS gamers whom are interested in this type of game.

Not every Sony first party studio release has to be a knockout. That’s never really been the case. As long as Sony studios break even and make a profit. Then all is well. We all can hopefully get a variety like the great PS3 era. Was quite a few games for many.

@somnambulance Stellar Blade will never be Classic. It is too much Controversial, even if its true gameplay is solid

@Shad361 "These are average numbers at best. Especially for a 94 meta game,that everyone on the internet said they “wanted more of”, yet only like 1 in 60 PS5 owners bought the game.et only like 1 in 60 PS5 owners bought the game"

So by your own logic, Spiderman 2 sold 11 millions copies is 'average at best' since only 11 millions of 65 million PS5 owners who bought the game? Gosh, you need to touch some grass 🤦‍♂️

"Any half decent game with a name can sell a million copies"

I don't know what are these 'half decent game with a name' that you're talking about and why you're comparing them with Astro Bot.

But clearly many decent-good games can't sell a million copies. Example from Sony own games:

• Puppeteer
• Tearaway
• Jeanne D'Arc
• Gravity Rush
• Freedom Wars
• Soul Sacrifice
• Forbidden Siren
• Patapon

So yes Astro Bot is sold well no matter how many spins you're doing right now.

@RoomWithaMoose "In about the same timeframe, The Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom sold more than 2.3 million. Sooo..."

Ah yes. Let's compare it with Zelda, a very popular and 37 years long running franchise with 20+ games and sold 150 million copies ww. That makes sense.

@RBRTMNZ Outlaws is an AAA game with Ubisoft spent the bigget marketing budget in their history for the game. On the other hand Astro Bot is an AA game. So yes, only sold 1 million copies is a failure for Outlaws.

The mileage that my family has been getting from this game is crazy. Currently my game of the year and potentially a real system seller. Congrats to the team!

@PuppetMaster I'm not sure claiming it is a $60 AA game is the positive argument you think it is but beyond that your analysis is flawed. It was 100% marketed like a AAA blockbuster from the biggest gaming company. The numbers are disappointing.

@PuppetMaster
It's a failure. Sony has proven time and again, even if a game on a small budget profits, not good enough if it isn't a 10 mil+ blockbuster. Doubt we get another entry in the series.

Hoping the holidays make it even better!

@dark_knightmare2
I call it as I see it. This was positioned as one of Sony's big games for the holidays and it bombed.

@RBRTMNZ Many AA games has 60 bucks price. Octopath Traveler for example, it's an AA game and SE gave 60 bucks price tag. For AAA, 70 bucks is the normal standard price right now.

And the marketing doesn't look like an AAA blockbuster game considering Sony:

• doesn't rent a big billboard to showed the game
• doesn't showed the trailer at many theaters unlike what they did with Uncharted 4 or God of War
• doesn't hired any Holywood A-list celebrities to promo the game

The biggest ads Sony did was showed the trailer at EVO for 3 days, showed at TGS, and has an offline launch event at some Asian countries.

If the numbers are dissapointing, Sony wouldn't showed or even announced it.

@Gamer83 No it's not a failure and Sony never expect a small budget game can sell 10+ million copies in less than two months.

I was hoping for a bit higher sales numbers for Astro, yet it was predictable that the game did not sell all to well, given how quiet Sony was about it.

Maybe if it can wins a bunch GOTY awards, the sales will get better, it is a fantastic game, however in my opinion the pricetag is too high and it is a bit overrated - it's great but nowhere near the masterpiece people make it out to be.

Liams comparisons rarely make any sense to me, if you compare release titels (same timespan) with a game release for a much higher userbase, what exactly is the point of this?

What is even more shocking to me is, that the 3 games could not gather much higher sales by now. Maybe because they are on some PS+ tier, no clue.

Demon's Souls and Returnal are fantastic and also unique games.

I've got FFVII but i haven't played it yet. but between Astro and Stellar. I stay 100% with stellar, it's my first platinum ever and even though I recon that Astro is a good game it isn't for me, it bored me, I haven't finished it.

I finished Spiderman though, and i found it very spectacular but far from be a GOTY.

@PuppetMaster The port of Luigi’s Mansion 2 sold 1.5 million copies and has been available for only a month. 1.5 for the only Sony developed game this year is a massive disappointment.

I only started Astrobot today and have to say despite enjoying many many games, rarely has a game made me smile and laugh the way this one has, right from the start.

This is something very very special.

@REALAIS That's well said. You must be new here. 😂

I bought my kid that same purple controller and within a year the drift is so bad it's unusable. I took it apart to clean it and it worked mostly ok for about a week but not anymore. My red one is getting close. Bought a black 1, now we have 4. Pretty sure I've spent more money on the console and controllers than games. (though to be fair I do borrow lot of games from my local library for free)

@RBRTMNZ Luigi Mansion only sold 1.5 million copies? That's a colossal dissapointment for Nintendo games considering Wii Sports sold 100 million copies.

@PuppetMaster If we were talking Tears of the Kingdom, sure. But Echoes is by no means a tentpole Zelda release. And 1 million more sales for a game with much less hype and praise than Astro, regardless of its association with a ~40 year old series, ain't nothing.

@RoomWithaMoose Echoes of the Wisdom isn't a spin-off like Hyrule Warriors or Link's Crossbow Training but it's officially count as a mainline Zelda game, just like BotW / Tears of the Kingdom. And it has the big gimmick that Princess Zelda herself finally became the main playable character in a mainline game.

So your comparison doesn't makes any sense here. Zelda is a massively popular franchise with big fanbase while Astro Bot is a very niche series that started as a VR game (or a tech demo if you want to include The Playroom) who just got the 2nd full fledge game. This is like you comparing Okami or Vagrant Story sales with GTA / FF / RE / Pokemon and then called it's not a success.

And FYI the first Zelda game sold 6.5 million copies on NES alone. I wish Astro Bot has Zelda popularity but maybe in the future.

Definately. I have not played any previous such type games.

@rjejr I have 7 controllers at home after getting PS5 Pro. 3 of those are broken.
No cleaning will help stick drift because it is physical damage most likely.
I opened all stick drift controllers I have, and I tried to clean them, but every one of those has damaged black colored strips in those joysticks inner parts. And that is not fixable by cleaning. It will quickly start to stick drift again.
Just poor quality to push for Controller sales. I would easily spend extra 10 money for nonstick drift controller, but that would not benefit SONY.

@Gamer83 now I know you’re trolling so I’ll end the conversation here. It wasn’t a bomb,Sony called it a hit and it’s sold better so far than any other platformer not named Mario in the last ten years but continue to be a troll and live in make believe land if it somehow makes you feel better.

@REALAIS " I would easily spend extra 10 money for nonstick drift controller, but that would not benefit SONY. "

Oh man don't get me started. It's been 4 years since the PS5 launched and there are still no cheap 3rd party controllers. I don't understand how that's possible and no one has sued them for anti-competitive behavior. Sure, there are several $150-$200 3rd party controllers, but none in that $30-$40 range like there has been every previous generation. I know they are never as good, though my $30 fake Switch controller is just as good as my kids $70 Official Switch Pro, but they are usually good enough for that 1 game my wife plays with me once every 4 years for a few hours, or when my kid has a friend over who forgets to bring their own. But not this gen. 🤑

For what it is, congrats as sales for games like it need all the help they can get. For it being a nostalgic/museum title I refuse to play it. I have access to it as someone else bought it. Still refuse to play it. I avoid Indies that do what it offers of nostalgia inspired design, why would i give Astro Bot the pass. Rescue Mission/Playroom are fine. Astro Bot is the one I can't get behind. Not a fan of Sony and nostalgia milking either.

@PuppetMaster It doesn't matter what Echoes is officially considered; nobody would tell you Echoes is the true successor to Tears, and its public perception would reflect that.

And you're saying a new IP sold 6.5 million copies almost 40 years ago. So...kinda harder to call Astro much of a success then. At least until we see where sales stand after a few years.

@Shad361 yep 1.5 million isnt good sales in todays market. days gone didnt even get a sequel and that sold 6 million

@trev666 but at what price did it sell 6 million? Was it after several price cuts? Because clearly Astro Bot hasn't had any yet. Also, how much did each game cost?

@RBRTMNZ no it isn't. Unlike Nintendo fans who eat up whatever Nintendo releases, especially when it has Mario, Sony fans only give certain first party games a chance. It's been the case since ps1.

@RoomWithaMoose It does matter. I take Nintendo words who put Echoes as a mainline Zelda game over an opinion from some stranger in the internet. Not sure either why are you acting as if Zelda games before BotW / Tears are not important lol.

Public perception clearly showed Echoes is an important Zelda game, especially with Zelda herself became main playable character for the 1st time in the mainline game.

@PuppetMaster Echoes absolutely lacked the hype and stranglehold on the zeitgeist that Tears had. And Breath, Skyward, Twilight,etc. Halo 3: ODST is a mainline Halo, but it had a smaller budget, less marketing, and was generally sold as a side project. The same is true of Echoes. You're not wrong to call it a mainline game. But as far as the average consumer is concerned, it is NOT Tears' successor. Wasn't even developed by the same team.

Dunno where I asserted pre-open air Zeldas weren't important. I understand Zelda is an established series, but I think the 'side-game' handicap of Echoes makes for a decent comparison to Astro. Especially given that they're two console exclusives released within a week of another on the two highest selling systems.

I do think the industry, and what constitutes as a sales success, has changed considerably since, say, the NES. Hence why I said Astro not reaching the sales of NES Zelda is actually somewhat damning; there are a lot more gamers out there these days, and NES Zelda didn't have brand recognition beyond Nintendo's marketing push at the time.

I think it's safe to call Astro a success — it probably made a profit. But did it get the success it deserved? Definitely not. And is the 1.5 million this crazy sales number? Not really.

Will get this game after it gets a price cut, £60 is too much. I'm sure a lot of others will also do the same.

@naruball Dude the PSP is constantly sold out when there options that do the same thing for less than half the price and the steam deck that does the same thing and is a handheld gaming pc costs the same price.

@Member_the_game so if people don't have you're opinion there's something wrong with them? Noted

@Fattywhale

Argh I see what's happened here.

You've read my comment which was intended as a light hearted joke and taken it way toooooo literally.

Lighten up a bit and don't take everything so serious bro

@RBRTMNZ huh?

@naruball I’m saying that the success of an expensive and completely inessential product like the PSP shows that Sony fanboys will happily eat up whatever tripe Sony throws their way just like Nintendo fanboys.