PlayStation boss Hermen Hulst has praised Astro Bot, calling it one of PlayStation's "most exciting recent successes."
Astro Bot was a breath of fresh air for Sony's first-party output which has been relegated to cinematic third-person action games for the longest time, and embodied the spirit of Japan Studio (it getting shut down is probably the biggest blunder of Sony's 2020s, if you ask me). Since then the game has become one of the most beloved platformers of all time, winning Game of the Year at the BAFTAs and The Game Awards.
Sony Interactive Entertainment's business group CEO Hermen Hulst gives the game praise during a recent video presentation (via Genki_JPN). During the talk, he calls Astro Bot one of PlayStation's "most exciting recent successes."
Hulst adds: "Astro Bot was a smash hit, achieving universal acclaim among players and critics and sweeping industry award shows." When speaking about growing game IP into franchises, Astro Bot is listed as an "emerging IP," hopefully meaning that we should be getting more Astro in the future, (thankfully).
Hopefully the success of Astro Bot shows PlayStation the value in having franchises that don't quite fit into that prestige AAA mold or the live service world. After Japan Studio was shuttered in 2021, it meant the studio which were constantly pumping out unique games and ideas were all but gone (the studio was merged into Team Asobi).
But, in an era where big Sony series are taking longer to come out (the PS5 generation will probably almost be over by the time the next Naughty Dog game releases), little games like Ape Escape, Gravity Rush, and Patapon would go down a treat.
Sony is "really thoughtful" about bringing PlayStation franchises like God of War and The Last of Us off console, and PS5 games going to PC is a matter of "if", not when.
