Astro Bot will be getting free post-launch DLC and some of that will be speed run stages that are familiar to players of Astro Bot Rescue Mission. The levels would have been included in the main game had they been completed by the launch deadline, so Team Asobi decided it was going to release them for free at a later date.
Astro Bot DLC also includes “playful” stages
Team Asobi studio head Nicolas Doucet told Famitsu that “we plan to release DLC that includes playful stages and exciting speed run stages like in the previous game”. Speed Run stages were known as Time Trial levels in Rescue Mission and tasked players with completing short levels in less than 60 seconds.
In a previous interview with Console Creatures, Doucet stated that the focus of the DLC “will be on challenges or more complex play.” However, he said, “we are also entertaining the idea of having something that would be more of a toy (more manageable levels) so that we can always, you know, address, you know, both audiences.” These are likely to be the “playful stages” that were mentioned in the interview with Famitsu, which was translated by Genki on X (formerly Twitter).
Rescue Mission had three types of challenge levels. Alongside the Time Trial levels, there were Score Attacks and Boss Challenges. The former asked players to defeat enemies with a certain type of gadget to rack up points, while the latter meant defeating a boss without taking damage. It’s unclear whether the other two varieties will make it into the new Astro Bot game.
Astro Bot will be released next week on September 6. The free post-launch DLC is expected to be released before the end of the year, although it’s unclear whether it will arrive in a single update or in multiple stages.