With the overwhelmingly positive reception to the release of ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission on PSVR this week, fans were excited to discover that the back of the game box suggested a multiplayer feature would eventually come to the game via a post-launch update. Alas, Sony confirmed this was a mistake.

Astro Bot Rescue Mission has been receiving high marks from reviewers and customers alike, with many heralding it as one of the headset’s best games to date.

When physical copies of the game started arriving, players spotted a ‘1-4 Players’ feature indicator on the back of the box, along with fine print reading, “Robust internet connection required to download software patch to enable local co-op functionality.”

It seemed plausible that Astro Bot would see co-op multiplayer, particularly because the game was a spin-off of a mini-game called ‘Robots Rescue’ (part of The Playroom VR) which prominently featured local co-op play between the player wearing the headset and a player playing on the regular screen.

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We reached out to Sony about the information on the Astro Bot box, who unfortunately confirmed it was a mistake.

“We apologize for the misprint on our packaging which indicates that ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission is a multiplayer game. There are currently no plans to add multiplayer features to the game,” a spokesperson for Sony told Road to VR.

And that’s that, it seems, at least for some sort of Astro Bot multiplayer. Whether or not Sony has plans to expand the game in other ways with future DLC remains unclear at this stage, but we’re sure many players will have their fingers crossed.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Lucidfeuer

    It’s not a misprint, obviously, they just cancelled plans of production or implementation for multiplayer. But if the game is successful, and they have some sense with their platform and franchise (which is not a given with Sony), it might come as bonus.

    • amirpro

      Playroom VR uses the social screen to display a different rendered image. This process requires about 2x rendering time. However, Astro Bot Rescue mission is not using this technique probably because the game is more graphically demanding

  • David Herrington

    I was excited to play the demo of this a couple months ago, and was surprised to find the locomotion to be exceedingly nauseating. You control the Astro bot in front of you and your body is stationary until the bot gets far enough away from your view point and then your body starts to trail after the bot.

    I found that the uncertainty of when my view point would move forward to be unpredictable at best. Even though I enjoyed the cuteness of the game, this has been one of the only games that I could not finish due to nausea.

    Can anyone tell me if they plan to change this to more like “Moss” where your viewpoint is static, or if this unpredictable locomotion will continue? If so this is a big no for me. I would also caution anyone looking forward to getting this game to first try the Robot Rescue demo to see if you also have issues.

    • Another Opinion

      If it was made more like Moss it would break the fundamental design. In contrast to your experience, a friend of mine who suffers badly from VR motion sickness tried it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

      I recommend trying more and different VR experiences to build up your VR legs as otherwise you’re going to miss out on some great stuff! I’ve heard of people taking motion sickness tabs to break through the motion sickness threshold too.

      • David Herrington

        I enjoyed the actual gameplay and the graphics and music and story, but I got so nauseated I couldn’t even finish the demo.

        I don’t get nauseated playing games with walking locomotion. Nausea comes from a disconnect from the brain thinking that you will experience motion one way and it happens in a different way. So when you can control your motion properly then it mitigates the part of your brain that says you need to get sick. The unpredictability of the movement in Robot Rescue related to the fact that there is some invisible distance in front of your character that draws your body forward creates a nearly impossible situation for your mind to negotiate.

        If there was a more finite manner of controlling your corporeal body following behind the astrobot, then I don’t think it would be such an issue but as it is there is no way to know when your body will be pulled along or be stationary.

        • Andrew G

          Honestly, if you fight through it, the nausea starts to go away. You get used to it.

          • bviktor

            Or it gets worse.

  • Sean Misener

    I think its a great game. one of my favorites. If you found it nauseating that sucks.. i felt a little off at first. but came back and tried again and got use to it.. Love the VR… best thing to come to gaming.