Astro Bot's first free DLC is available today with more coming over the next four weeks

A screenshot from Astro Bot showing Astro Bot under a big tree
(Image credit: Sony/Team Asobi)

Team Asobi has just released the first Astro Bot DLC level as a completely free update. And better still, there will be more to follow over the next few weeks.

Announced in an official PlayStation Blog post written by director Nicolas Doucet, it's confirmed that the first DLC speedrun level, Building Speed, is available now and should appear in-game when you next update it. In the level, you'll use the Barkster bulldog bot power-up to launch Astro through crates and across precarious platforming challenges.

What's more, Doucet also confirms that four more speedrun challenge levels will arrive one per week over the next month. The release schedule for these is as follows:

  • October 17: Building Speed (that's today!)
  • October 24: Let it Slide
  • October 31: Spring-loaded Run
  • November 7: Helium Heights
  • November 14: Rising Heat

Being speedrun levels, the goal is naturally to get through them as quickly as possible. Team Asobi has added a new online leaderboard to support this, so you and your PlayStation friends can have fun seeing who can get through each stage the quickest.

Although you will probably want to take your time and smell the mechanical roses on your first outing in these levels, because new bot cameos are being added to each one. In Building Speed, players can expect to run into cute bot renditions of the Helldivers and EVE from Stellar Blade. Doucet teases that more cameos will arrive in future levels, but is remaining understandably tight-lipped on who those could be for now. Though, we may already have an idea if Astro Bot's credits sequence is anything to go by.

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Rhys Wood
Hardware Editor

Rhys is TRG's Hardware Editor, and has been part of the TechRadar team for more than two years. Particularly passionate about high-quality third-party controllers and headsets, as well as the latest and greatest in fight sticks and VR, Rhys strives to provide easy-to-read, informative coverage on gaming hardware of all kinds. As for the games themselves, Rhys is especially keen on fighting and racing games, as well as soulslikes and RPGs.

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