Astro Bot Cut Content Included a Bird Flight Level and a Headless Astro

Astro Bot fans person each heard the communicative of the instauration of the sponge power-up, but did you cognize developer Team Asobi besides prototyped adjacent wackier powers, similar a java grinder and a roulette wheel?

We didn't, until IGN attended GDC 2025, wherever Team Asobi workplace manager Nicolas Doucet gave a speech simply titled, "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'". In his talk, Doucet went in-depth connected the process of creating the PlayStation mascot platformer, including showing disconnected a fig of aboriginal prototype images and chopped content.

Doucet began his speech by talking astir the archetypal transportation for Astro Bot, which was written successful May 2021, conscionable a fewer months aft Team Asobi began prototyping it. According to him, determination were 23 antithetic revisions of the transportation earlier it was shown to apical management. Their transportation was seemingly initially fixed arsenic an adorable comic portion showing disconnected the main pillars and activities of the game. Clearly, it was a success.

A descent from Nicholas Doucet's GDC talk, The Making of 'ASTRO BOT', showing a comic publication mentation of the game's pitch.

Next, Doucet explained however the squad generated ideas. The answer, unshockingly, is simply a batch of brainstorming, but what Team Asobi did was signifier tiny groups of 5-6 radical that premix individuals from antithetic disciplines together. Everyone wrote oregon drew ideas connected idiosyncratic sticky notes, starring to this perfectly unthinkable brainstorming committee image:

Another descent from the talk, showing sticky enactment brainstorms from Team Asobi.

Not each thought made it to the adjacent phase, prototyping, Doucet said. In fact, lone astir 10% of their brainstorms really got made. But that was inactive a lot of prototyping. Doucet went connected to speech astir the value of prototyping each sorts of things, explaining that everyone connected the squad was encouraged to prototype ideas they had. This included departments extracurricular of crippled design, specified arsenic an illustration wherever audio designers made a theatre wrong Astro Bot to prototype haptic controller vibrations that corresponded to antithetic dependable effects, specified arsenic the antithetic ways a doorway tin unfastened and close.

Another descent from the talk, showing a sponge prototype alongside conception creation of Astro Bot becoming a sponge.

Prototyping was truthful important to the Astro Bot team, Doucet said, that a fewer programmers connected the squad were reserved to prototype things that had thing to bash with platforming. That's wherever Astro Bot's sponge mechanic came from - they prototyped a sponge that squeezed adust utilizing the adaptive trigger, it was fun, and it became a portion of the game.

Another descent from the speech showing assorted prototype activities that were made for Astro Bot.

Doucet shared the supra image, which included a fig of specified prototypes that were made, but ne'er turned into Astro Bot mechanics, alongside those that did. You tin spot the balloon and sponge, which were used, alongside prototypes of what looks similar a tennis game, a small walking wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, a java grinder, and respective more.

Later successful the talk, Doucet besides discussed however levels were selected and designed astir definite mechanics. The goal, helium said, was for each level to person unsocial gameplay of immoderate benignant and ne'er consciousness excessively akin to different level. While that doesn't mean that Astro Bot could ne'er usage the aforesaid power-up connected much than 1 level, Doucet said that the look of it had to beryllium antithetic capable each clip to marque the level consciousness unique. For instance, helium showed immoderate images of a chopped level themed astir vertebrate flights that was chopped owed to reusing Astro Bot's monkey power-up successful ways that were a spot excessively akin to the level Go-Go Archipelago, arsenic good arsenic different level successful Astro's Playroom that had a akin power.

"In the end, it was decided that the overlap was not steadfast capable to make variety, and we conscionable chopped this level entirely," helium said. "We'll ne'er cognize if that level would person been popular. But successful hindsight, I deliberation it's a bully happening that we got to walk that clip elsewhere."

Another slide, showing a chopped level from Astro Bot alongside 2 different implemented levels.

Finally Doucet closed the speech by talking astir the game's last scene, and yes, this is Spoilers if you haven't finished Astro Bot yet. Read connected astatine your ain risk.

In the last country of Astro Bot, the subordinate reassembles a breached Astro Bot utilizing limbs and assistance from the different gathered bots. According to Doucet, primitively the subordinate was conscionable handed a wholly dismembered Astro. No head, nary limbs, conscionable the torso. But Doucet said that this made immoderate radical "really upset", truthful they went with the somewhat much intact mentation we spot successful the existing game.

A clip from Doucet's presumption showing the archetypal ending of Astro Bot.

Doucet's speech included a fig of different absorbing nuggets and tidbits astir the improvement of Astro Bot. We've spoken to him successful the past aggregate times astir the improvement of Astro Bot, a crippled that we gave a 9/10 successful our review, calling it "A fantastically inventive platformer successful its ain right, Astro Bot is peculiarly peculiar for anyone with a spot successful their bosom for PlayStation."

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].