It's really nice that Astro Bot only has one release date

Astro Bot is a really good video game and a good reason to own a PS5. Its colorful graphics, countless gaming references and excellent platform gameplay have already made it one of the best games of 2024. But there is something else I like about AstroBot: There is only one release date.

I hate the whole charisma of this FF7 Rebirth character

Yesterday I bought Astro Bot for my PS5 so I could download it and play it over the weekend. I was relieved to find that while there are two versions of the game, both options have the same release date, September 6th. When someone asked me later that day when

Astro Bot come, I could simply answer: Tomorrow. Th is has become increasingly rare, as more and more More and more publishers are locking their games with early access taxes

In 2024 at least 20 different video games-including Space Marine 2, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, And Madden25— have been or will be released with different release dates depending on how much money you want to spend. Buying a video game has always been a complicated mess, with pre-order bonuses, different editions, and time-limited exclusivity windows. Now, when I talk about new games, I also have to think, “Wait, is this available to everyone or just people who pre-ordered a fancy $100 edition?”

At least one game, Unlimited Test Drive: Solar Crownhas made things even more frustrating by offering two different early access options. If you pay a little more, you can play the game two days before launch. If you pay even more, you can play 7 days before launch. If you’re quiet, you can literally hear a greedy publisher somewhere counting money on Sun Crown‘s nonsense, and thought: “Maybe we can offer three Levels of Early Access!”

PlayStation

All this leads me to declare how happy I am that Astro Bot has a release date. It’s odd that in 2024, having a single release date is worth praising, but here we are. The video game industry has become so addicted to “numbers going up” and endless growth that a single release date (you know how things work for decade) becomes a rarity and something worth celebrating

And in six months, none of that will matter. The games will all be playable and the Early Access periods will be a distant memory. (Another reason not to pay extra for this crap.) But it does mean that for most games, the first week or so after release has become a weird dance on the internet as people try to talk about something that may not be available to everyone.

Astro Bot will be able to get around all of this by not forcing players to pay a ransom to play a finished game a few days before the others. How nice, and just another reason to love Sony’s new PS5 platformer.