After Sony’s big announcements, we are being told that a PS5 exclusive well known to gamers may be making a comeback this year.
Yesterday, Sony did not mince its words. The PS5 is soon entering the “second half of its life cycle”, but that’s not all. We obviously have to give up on new games from major licenses until March 31, 2025. As a result, the community is a little worried. However, we have just been given information that will probably reassure some people. This is the return of an exclusivity that left a lasting impression on PS4 and PlayStation 5 owners.
Astro Bot returning to PlayStation 5?
As Hiroki Totoki said during the firm’s latest financial report, only well-established franchises are affected. We think in particular of Marvel’s Spider-Man or God of War. As a result, new intellectual properties like Concord or less important licenses are not impacted by this decision. Among them, we find Astro Bot, which you surely know thanks to Astro’s Playroom which is available on PlayStation 5. Well, according to insider Jeff Grubb, the little robot will normally return in 2024 in a new adventure.
“I heard Astro might come back this year. So it’s quite important to me, but I understand why Sony thinks it’s not important to us.” Here are the words our man said during the Giant Bomb podcast. Indeed, that would be excellent news, and it is not completely meaningless. Remember, on PS4, we were treated to Astro Bot Rescue Mission for PS VR. Couldn’t PS VR2 on PlayStation 5 accommodate a new title from this license? It’s entirely possible, and it’s perhaps Team ASOBI’s new project.
Obviously, these are still comments to be taken with a pinch of salt. We know Jeff Grubb well, and he has information on anything and everything. As a result, it’s sometimes difficult to trust him, even if he’s been right on target before. Incidentally, he also declared that Sony will provide news in 2024 of new titles from major franchises. At the moment, it seems a little strange given what has been said by the company. To be continued.
An end of life for the console? Not yet
In any case, things will start to move on Sony’s side. According to Bloomberg, Naomi Matsuoka, senior vice president of Sony, spoke about the PlayStation 5. To be more specific, she talked about the situation ahead for the console in the next fiscal year which ends on March 31, 2025. She explained that the machine would enter the second half of its life cycle. A rather logical statement, but which still follows sales forecasts which have been revised downwards for 2024-early 2025. The fault lies in an inconclusive end-of-year 2023 holiday period, despite attractive promotions .
In the future, the PlayStation 5 will enter the second half of its life cycle. Thus, we will place more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales. This is why we expect the annual pace of PS5 hardware sales to start declining starting next fiscal year.