The much-anticipated first Astro Bot DLC has now landed, bringing new speedrun levels and online leaderboards to this cute PlayStation mascot adventure. What's more, this expansion is available completely for free, although the content included with it is being drip-fed out over the next month or so. You'll need to have travelled the universe and collected the relevant parts to rebuild the Mothership before you can tackle these fresh levels, so if you haven't done that already then now is the time to crack on and wrap up the storyline. For the lowdown on what's included with the first Astro Bot DLC and potential plans for the future, here's everything we know so far.
What is included in the first Astro Bot DLC
The first Astro Bot DLC launched for free on October 17, and adds a new Stellar Speedway region to the universe map – note that you need to have completed the main game in order to access this area. Inside you'll find speedrun levels, where you can compete against friends and the wider player base for the best course times via online leaderboards. There are a total of five speedrun levels to be added, which will be released weekly at 6am PDT / 9am EDT / 2pm BST via the following schedule:
- October 17 - Building Speed
- October 24 - Let it Slide
- October 31 - Spring-loaded Run
- November 7 - Helium Heights
- November 14 - Rising Heat
In addition to the timed challenge, each speedrun level will also have two VIP bots to rescue, adding further Astro Bot collectibles to track down as additional PlayStation icons in bot form. From the initial Building Speed level, it appears that you unlock one VIP bot by clearing the course for the first time, while the other is awarded when you beat a certain target time marked by the blue and red birds flying through the course alongside you. We know that Eve from Stellar Blade and a Helldiver feature in the first level, and while Sony are staying tight-lipped about who else will appear in the rest of the stages we are aware that the "Special thanks to our long-time friends" section of the Astro Bot credits hint at missing Assassin's Creed, Stellar Blade, Worms, and Rayman cameos that might come as DLC, so that provides an idea of what's to follow.
When is the next Astro Bot DLC coming out
As I said above, there will be new speedrun levels launching each week until mid-November, however this is unlikely to be the end of plans for Astro Bot DLC. In an interview given by studio director Nicolas Doucet, they hinted at something more "toy" related being added to Astro Bot that all players can enjoy, but it may not make it into the initial free content drop. That is now the case, so it's likely we can expect at least one more expansion in 2025, and as there's currently an empty region in the top left of the galaxy map that would seem perfectly suited to having a new area added. Bear in mind that while the initial update was free, it's likely that future DLC will be a paid-for expansion.
That's everything we know about the Astro Bot DLC for now, but I will update this guide with any new information as and when it is revealed.
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