In the time since I’ve started covering games in this country, there have been only a few projects that Sony has shown incredible confidence in publicly. I remember the waves of photos that crashed the internet when Sony decided to feature God of War Ragnarok on Mumbai’s metros, and the same happened with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Who would’ve thought that Sony would once again display such confidence in what isn’t a proven IP that’s guaranteed to sell millions of copies? Seeing Sony India this confident in Astro Bot, the latest PS5 exclusive, fills me with joy.
I was invited to Astro Bot’s India launch event, held in New Delhi, on September 6. The setup was similar to last year’s Cricket 24 event, except this time, we knew what were in for. Reviews for Astro Bot, including my own, had come pouring in the day before, raining 9s and 10s across its Metacritic page, with many discussing Astro Bot as a legitimate game of the year contender.
The launch event was less about getting our feedback on the game, and more about cultivating PlayStation’s growing audience in India. I was among a select group of people from gaming media to have been invited, with the rest of the invitees being from the creator space - YouTubers, vloggers, and content creators across different platforms. But it wasn’t about inviting those with the biggest influence. For a high-profile PS5 exclusive, the number of people invited was small but impactful.
That’s a lot of resources Sony spent on Astro Bot, and we don’t have any sales metrics on the game almost a week after its release. Conventional wisdom would suggest that a simple, family-friendly game marketed towards a younger audience, who already have experience with the franchise thanks to the PS5-pack-in Astro’s Playroom, would sell like gangbusters. When I asked Sony India’s marketing team how the game was doing in pre-orders, I didn’t get any specific numbers, but the team suggested that it was falling in line with, or maybe even exceeding, expectations. While it isn’t going to follow the trail set by Spider-Man or God of War, Sony seems happy with the game’s pre-sale performance, and that’s only poised to improve following its rave reviews.
Another good news? Sony launched the Astro Bot DualSense controller in India on launch day. Why is it a newsworthy story? Those who’ve followed the PS5’s trajectory in India know too well that most accessories, and even consoles, seldom make it here on time. Case in point: the PlayStation Portal was released in India eight months after its international debut. The same goes for the PlayStation VR2, which arrived in India ten months after its release in the US.
The Astro Bot controller is priced at Rs. 6,820, which is 13% higher than the regular DualSense controller. A fair price, if you have to ask me. It’s the only special edition controller I’ve bothered being interested in since the PS5 generation started, and my god is it beautiful. Sleek, a little too shiny, and surprisingly lighter than the original controller. I’ve made a vow to use it just for Astro Bot and nothing else.
It’ll be interesting to see how, or even if, Sony markets the upcoming LEGO Horizon Adventures similarly. Compared to Astro Bot, that game is speaking to an even bigger audience with a simultaneous release on PC, PS5 and Nintendo Switch. Beyond that though is anyone’s guess. We still don’t know what PlayStation Studios’ 2025 output looks like, though I know that whatever it is, it will be pushed by Sony India harder than anything before. Venom? Wolverine? The next Santa Monica game? Ghost of Tsushima 2, where are you? And that’s all ignoring the fact that the biggest of them all, GTA 6, is releasing next year. Sony India is aware of its cultural significance, and you can bet they’re already working out the possibilities of bundling it with the PS5, and PS5 Pro, as I publish this.
Astro Bot is now available on PS5.
