PS5 Astro Bot Bundle Reportedly Coming Soon - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 11 February 2025 / 3,427 Views
Sony Interactive Entertainment is reportedly going to release a new PlayStation 5 console bundle with Astro Bot soon, according to reliable leaker billbil-kun on Dealabs.
The leaker claims the Astro Bot PS5 bundle will release in North America and Europe. It will include a standard PS5 console with a disc drive and a download code for Astro Bot.
The bundle if real is expected to release around March 13, 2025. It could be announced at tomorrow's PlayStation State of Play, however, billbil-kun isn't sure on the exact date.
Astro Bot won our award for Game of the Year 2024. Our own Lee Mehr gave the game an 8.5 out of 10 in his review and said "As an ode to PlayStation, Astro Bot succeeds at meaningfully infusing its history; as an all-ages theme park, it succeeds by infusing each location with an overwhelming sense of joyous wonder most often felt in Nintendo platformers, but with a level of technical sophistication not yet seen from its hardware."
Astro Bot released for the PlayStation 5 on September 6, 2024.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Bluesky.
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Could have used that during the holidays...
yep
a missed oppertunity
So, a PS5 with a disc drive along with a download code for Astro Bot.
Okay.
Why would they take the effort to produce physical games to include in the box, When codes are basically costless and require almost no logistics?
My 7 year old switch definitely had a cartridge slot but it came with a digital code for Super Mario Odyssey.
idk if you’re purchasing a system specifically with a disc drive, i feel it’d make the most sense to include the disc, no? Nintendo resorting to download codes shouldn't be a reason for ppl not to ask for the physical version.
You're also buying a system with an SSD and an internet connection.
my point is that if you’re somebody who’s specifically purchasing a Physical Edition PS5, you’d prolly want the physical disc for Astro. Not gonna fault ppl for asking more from Sony here.
Astro domination!
I came back to look, why this article had like 40+ replies to it. Surprised by Killer7 and Azzanation's overblown weird takes.... anyways.... this game was made by like 60 people, in less than 3 years. Even at its early 2m sales or so, it should already have proven profitable. If Sony choose to try and push this fellow as a mascot, for console sales... what is the issue? There are Switch bundles with Mario as well..
is anybody saying there’s an issue? Just sounds like ppl are focused on the non-physical version of the game being included…which tbh is a little bit of an odd thing to be fixated on given how that’s pretty much just the industry standard at this point lol??
this is tempting... good move
Include the damn disc
Ideally would be to put it on Disc, but even Nintendo is pre-installing Mario Kart 8/Super Mario Bros Wonder on every new Switch Bundle sold.
Astrobot about to become the number one selling game. The sales inflation is real.
PS5 is overpriced and bundles are limited. So no, sales aren't inflated. Stay salty.
Erm, every PS5 sold including the game which the PS5 is selling really well is going to inflat these numbers. Don't let facts get in the way of your feelings.
if its around ~2m sales now.... the bundle will certainly help it go on to do more.
No chance in hell. Like they said: Astro is at 2 million now. They bundle the game to help its sales. If it was selling so well, this move would not have been necessary!
It's Sonys strategy to boost game sales. It's an effective way however it doesn't tell the true story.
Everyone makes bundles. But as we know, Astro bot is at 2 million(+) since december. If i was Sony and my game was running so good, i would at least charge a bit more than the standard 500$/€ package because giving away a game that "sells so well" for free is not logical. If you are selling ice cream and Straciadella is selling tons, would you make a "promotion offer" and include a ball of Stracciadella on every ice cream you sell? Basically making a loss on every ice cream?
You would have a point if the game was selling well, but it's not so they aren't losing anymore money if nobody is buying it.
That's why it's digital only as it cost them peanuts to give away codes.
inflating sales increases hype to the brand and IP and future sequel. Future Ads will say "from the 6m seller on PS5 comes AstroBot 2, but the trick is it hadnt.
It's sneaky buisness tactics.
The game is selling well though, No.14 & 19 in PSN all year charts in EU & US. Probably sold 1m-1.5m over the November/December period.
Sales ranking means little as that's dependent on the month and other games. Example: if a game comes out and there is nothing else to play, that would automatically boost its sales ranking for the month.
This is the sales ranking for all of 2024. Year end chart. It is respectively the 19th and 14th best selling game on PSN for the entire year, with only 3months sales.
https://blog.playstation.com/2025/01/23/playstation-stores-top-downloads-of-2024/
So the game didn't rank in the top 10 best sellers and sales figures drop off a cliff if ranked 14 and 19 only lead to 1.5m to 2m sales.
It’s 13th(NA) and 14th(Europe) in January and will chart again in February, so no, sales didn’t “drop off a cliff”
What are you talking about? So unless you rank top 10 best selling game for the year, your game is not selling?
It's number 15 in the UK retail charts last week. This narrative its not selling is objectively false. I understand why people might be mistaken because its first monthwas rather a soft start but thats typical for platformers not made by Nintendo and its also typical that when these games do succeed they well well over time vs being front loaded.
If the game only sold 2m before bundles ask yourself, is that selling well?
I'm not sure why you're forcing a narrative when you've been given objective data that you're wrong.
Firstly you just made the 2million figure up. You do not know how much it has sold to date.
Secondly, here is a glimpse at how longevity works. It Takes Two sold 2million in 3months (just as you're suggesting Astro Bot managed). The team literally celebrated this sales feat. Ask yourself, did It Takes Two sell poorly? It has since sold another 18million+ units through remaining consistent on the charts over years. Not through topping the charts but being consistent. A game that has not left the top 20 in 5months in Playstations biggest markets, is in fact selling well, and clearly displaying longevity.
I understand what you are trying to say. But only because they sell it only as a digital copy does not mean it costs them nothing. Because a person buying a game in a console bundle with litteraly no extra costs won't buy the game at 60$/€. So they loose one potential costumer. Thats the same thing with Nintendo. If they price the MK8 bundle cheaper than both would cost seperatly they would loose money. I have to admit, i am not familliar with current prices right now but giving out a copy for free would make them loose money. If they'd just charge an extra 30$/€ it would at least minder the loss/ give them a little revenue. They loose potential NSO subscribers by including a free 12 months sub. But i think its a "little" difference if you have a game selling 67 million+ or if you are sitting on 2 million+.
If people are not buying the game now, then there isn't a loss when giving it out for free, as these players had no interest in the game to begin with.
Sony could have charged more for the bundles, but they also need to stay in line with customer feedback. Raising the price with a game that people are not interested in could potentially lose a console sale.
Firstly, the game is selling very well right now.
Secondly, there is a very real cost to giving it for free because the digital code can be sold on the open market to another customer who is looking for a copy of the game. Every code into the market is one more copy of the game that exists.
Thats what i mean. But people who are not interested in the game could buy another bundle no?
Thats the point here on vgchartz: Telling the truth brings you minus. Especially if its something negative against Sony (positive Xbox). Nintendo is a love or hate thing here.
Can you show me an ad for a sequel game where they did that? Because I think it's a scenario you made up in your head to downplay a game company... making bundles...?
Do you think Mario Kart 8 DX didn't sold well because Nintendo keeps bundling it with the Switch?
Was Mario Kart 8 DX bundled?
It’s bundled every holiday quarter
Well then the bundle boosts game sales and explains why its sitting on insane sales.
We're waiting on official numbers but it's probably a fair bit over 2m since it charted well over the holidays and was the 14 & 20 best selling games on PSN across EU and US/Canada in 2024
Bundles are not made out of necessity of selling games, especially if the game is being included at no extra cost (that means no software revenue), they're done to make hardware attractive and pull in different consumers.
In addition to that it was 13th and 14th in January, it’s 5th month, and going strong in February again and pretty much guaranteed another top 20th position.
If you compare that to other big games released last year there is a big difference. Games like Dragon’s Dogma 2, FF7 Rebirth, Black Myth: Wukong, Stellar Blade, Metaphor: Refantazio all left the top 20 after 2 months. Even Helldivers 2 dropped out of the EU top 20 after 4 months(although stayed very strong in the US)
Its logical. If Sony was interested in pushing physical, they would have included the disc here. The fact its only 499€ speaks volumes. If they where so much into physical games, they would have included the disc. This and the fact they discontinued BD discs this month in adition with the fact they seem to put out limited quantities of their PS5 DDs makes me doubt PS6 will even have an optional one. Sony's behaviour shows the direction they are heading. Also this 500€ pricepoint makes Astro free for people who buy the bundle. I am sorry but it does not look like Astro Bot is the killer in sales some hoped for...
Minus for the truth... this is vgchartz🤣😂
Nothing you say makes any sense. Digital codes are the standard across the industry, why are people suddenly pretending it’s not? Are Nintendo not interested in physical media because they sell bundles with digital codes?
Games included in bundles are normally games that sell well, and have large ongoing demand, not games where demand has dried up. That’s why Nintendo released the MK8 bundle every holiday instead of the Metroid Dread Bundle.
Didn't Metroid Dread outsell Astro Bot?
You understand that the sales figures for Astro Bot only covers 2 months, right? It has never left the top 20 on PSN since its release, in fact in January it placed higher in both North America and Europe than it had done in October. That’s a high sustained demand, the kind of titles that normally get bundled. Metroid Dread is a game that sold almost all of it’s copies at launch(2.74m in first quarter, 3.07m after 5 quarters) and has no legs, that’s not the kind of game that gets bundled.
Oh dear, i did not even notice that. MD sold 2,74 million even in its FIRST QUARTER and thats basically a niche franchise for Nintendo. So not even outselling a game of a niche franchice does not seem convincing for a game wich wants to become a Top seller. There are not even MD bundles planned. Was there an MD bundle (With the game not only this OLED limited edition)?
The poster you are replying to in the first post is possibly the worst fanboy active in this site for some months, everything Sony is bad and everything Nintendo is good, that's the entirety of his posting story for quite some time.
So really, don't waste your time.
I own all 3 systems. I have a close to 100% physical collection of all PS4 vr games! I even own more PS5 games than Xbox Series games. Yes i do own more Switch games. Is it my fault that Sony is moving to digital but i prefere physical? If Nintendo did that it would be goodbye ("goodbuy for others"😂) the moment they did that. I would not even touch MK10 (i even can't😀). I would reject all of their games and probably start another hobby! Buying Nintendo products would become pointless from one day to the next! Worst (Nintendo) fanboy? Absolutley!😂 Was i wrong when i said Sony discontinued BD in february? Was i wrong when i said Astro's sales where not able to outsell MD's first quater? Is it wrong when i said Sony produces PS5DDs in limited quantities and does it intentionally? No? So why complain if i draw my conclusions on this behaviour? Its like saying Tesla is going to make fuel powerd cars when absolutley everything points to the opposite! I am no "Tesla hater" because of this fact!
THE DREAD BUNDLE!!
I will not buy it XD.
Thats very well true my friend but let me ask you a question: Did Nintendo discontinue Switch cardridges? Does Nintendo have a digital only version of the Switch wich can be advanced with a Switch cardridge adapter (comparable with Mega Drives 32X)? Does Nintendo only produce it in limited quantities basically saying: If you are ready to pay scalper prices, good for you, if you can't find it, bad luck haha? Have there been even any RUMORS of Switch 2 being digital only?
I don't think this situation is quite the same...
The fact that people shooting around - only when i post something confirms that i somehow hurt their feelings because what i said is the truth! And these people do not agree with the behaviour of their favourite brand but try to defend it. Its the same if i was in a music forum and i would mention the fact that Kiss stopped making music after a long 52 years carrea and Kiss Fanboys would attack with minus. But hey! Elvis is alive as well! Who ever doubted this fact?!🙂 And Michael Jackson will have a big comeback tour next year: Thriller Nights with him playing a Zombie- litterally!😂
Killer7, always remember this: it takes one to know one. All of the saints that pretend like they know you or vote you down are the same people who bashed the wii and all things Nintendo for years, and would let sony feed them any kind of bs and they would lap it up. The preferential treatment they give Sony is so obvious it hurts the eyes. These same people shat on the xbox for its online direction, praising Sony for their sensical approach to physical media. Then when it came to moneyhats, no problem at all with Sony using money to secure exclusivity against everyone but when MS laid down the dollar they were crying like babies. Really a mirror must be held in front of them, to understand what Nintendo and MS fans had to endure for years. It will do good for them to get a taste of their own medicine, balance eventually always comes.
They will vote me down too, just watch. Every downvote proves that what we're saying is true.
These same people are going to pretend like they didn't make Sony the herald of physical media during the those days, and think they can convince us of the contrary, we are not stupid, and see through all your false concern for gaming. Your only concern is that Sony wins the console race because you adore the company. So whenever this type of sony fan cries about moneyhatting or digital-only, remember gentlemen, it is just them saying that only what Sony does is good and acceptable, and this, at the end of the day, because Sony needs to be number 1. If Sony then goes and does the same thing, it doesn't matter because Sony can, and will, and nobody will ever complain. Will be exciting to see them get their asses kicked next gen, when Nintendo Switch goes head to head with Playstation to reclaim lost ground. Anyway I'm not talking about all PS fans there are lots of great people in the community. I'm talking about the type that would be quick to judge you, no matter how many playstation games you might own, be it even the whole library. The others are only guilty because they let these types of people thrive and don't criticize them properly.
The problem is that Sony could even hurt their dogs and seduce their moms fanboys would still love them. I wonder what happens when Nintendo will be the only one left with physical games? I am even wondering how they are trying to defend Sony when Nintendo is in fact the real winner because they are the only ones left with real exclusives not even coming to PC. Like the little kiddies they will throw Minus at me. Don't worry sweet teenies: Your Playstation is the Best, the most beautifull and a god. And its got the longest dig in the world. Sattisfied?🤣😂
