Fans of Astro Bot are familiar with the beloved sponge power-up, but did you know that Team Asobi, the game's developer, explored even more outlandish concepts? At GDC 2025, IGN had the chance to attend a presentation by Team Asobi studio director Nicolas Doucet titled "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'". Doucet provided an in-depth look at the creation process of this PlayStation mascot platformer, unveiling early prototype images and content that didn't make the final cut.
Doucet kicked off his talk by discussing the initial pitch for Astro Bot, crafted in May 2021, shortly after Team Asobi began its prototyping phase. He revealed that the pitch underwent 23 revisions before being presented to top management. The pitch was creatively delivered as an adorable comic strip that highlighted the game's main features and activities, which ultimately proved successful.
Doucet then delved into the team's method of generating ideas, emphasizing extensive brainstorming sessions. Team Asobi formed small, interdisciplinary groups of 5-6 members, where everyone contributed ideas through sticky notes, resulting in a vibrant brainstorming board.
He noted that only about 10% of these brainstormed ideas progressed to the prototyping stage. However, this still led to a significant amount of prototyping. Doucet highlighted the importance of prototyping across all departments, even sharing an example where audio designers created a theater inside Astro Bot to test haptic controller vibrations corresponding to various sound effects, like the nuances of a door opening and closing.
The significance of prototyping was further emphasized by Doucet, who mentioned that some programmers were dedicated to exploring ideas beyond traditional platforming mechanics. This approach led to the creation of Astro Bot's iconic sponge mechanic, which was prototyped to utilize the adaptive trigger for a squeezing effect, proving both fun and engaging enough to be included in the game.
Doucet shared an image showcasing a variety of prototypes, including the balloon and sponge that made it into the game, alongside others like a tennis game, a walking wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, and a coffee grinder, which did not.
He also discussed how levels were designed around specific mechanics to ensure unique gameplay experiences. Doucet explained that while the same power-up could be used in multiple levels, its application needed to be distinct enough to maintain level variety. He cited the example of a cut level themed around bird flights, which was dropped for being too similar to the level Go-Go Archipelago and another in Astro's Playroom.
"In the end, it was decided that the overlap was not healthy enough to create variety, and we just cut this level entirely," Doucet stated. "We'll never know if that level would have been popular. But in hindsight, I think it's a good thing that we got to spend that time elsewhere."
Finally, Doucet touched on the game's final scene, which includes **spoilers for those who haven't completed Astro Bot**. In the original concept, players were to reassemble a completely dismembered Astro Bot, but feedback led to a less distressing version where Astro Bot was more intact.
Doucet's presentation was filled with fascinating insights into the development of Astro Bot, a game that IGN awarded a 9/10, praising it as "A fantastically inventive platformer in its own right, Astro Bot is particularly special for anyone with a place in their heart for PlayStation."
