Sony’s Japan Studio, the minds behind The Playroom VR (2016), today announced that their upcoming platformer Astro Bot: Rescue Mission is headed to PSVR in the US on October 2nd, 2018. European availability will come a day later, October 3rd.

Japan Studio Creative Director and Producer Nicolas Doucet announced the news via a quick video interview explaining some of the game’s core elements, which include a unique way of interacting with your cute little robot buddy, Astro. Using the Dual Shock 4 gamepad, you collect gadgets that you then use to help Astro on his way through levels to reunite him with his lost crew.

We went hands-on with the charming and cheerful Astro Bot: Rescue Mission back at E3 2018 in June, and walking out of the demo it was clear that Astro Bot has taken some classic Mario-style platforming elements and mixed them in VR to awesome effect.

The game is launching exclusively on PSVR; if the rest of the game, which Doucet told us would take around 8 – 10 hours to complete its 26 levels, holds true to the amount of fun we had during the E3 demo, it appears PSVR could be getting another system-selling hit on its hands. Check out our hands-on here for more.

The game is said to be heading into pre-order later today for $40.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.