ChinaJoy 2024 is in full swing, and we've got several new gameplay showcases for high-profile games like Astro Bot and Phantom Blade Zero, courtesy of Gematsu.
Astro Bot is Sony's flagship game for this year. Developed by Team Asobi (formerly Japan Studio), it was announced during May's PlayStation Showcase event. We've since learned that it is the biggest game made by the studio yet, featuring over 80 levels spanning three different worlds for a total length estimated to be between 12 and 15 hours. Game Director Nicolas Doucet also confirmed that Team Asobi considered using open world design but decided against it to provide optimal variety.
Astro Bot is scheduled to launch for PlayStation 5 on September 6. A PC version coming in a year or two is all but guaranteed, though, considering Sony's strategy to bring all of its first-party games to the platform in due time.
ChinaJoy 2024 also hosted a stage event for Phantom Blade Zero, the highly anticipated action RPG developed by Chinese studio S-GAME. Announced in May 2023, the game is focused on boss fights and cannot be considered a Soulslike title. Game Director and Founder Soulframe Liang told Wccftech that Phantom Blade Zero will probably still take a few years before completion:
Even for the most experienced team, completing a project like this would take several years, not to mention our team are relatively young.
We cannot yet estimate the exact time of project completion, but we will try to showcase some of the latest achievements during different stages of development. We hope everyone can continue to follow our progress and stay tuned！
In addition to Astro Bot and Phantom Blade Zero, ChinaJoy 2024 was also the venue to showcase new projects from Chinese studios like Project: Jinyiwei, Loulan, Infinity Nikki, and Unending Dawn for the first time. You can check out those videos on Gematsu's YouTube channel.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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