Astro Bot Reveals Cut Content: Bird Flight Level and Headless Astro

Astro Bot fans are familiar with the beloved sponge power-up, but did you know that Team Asobi also experimented with even more whimsical ideas like a coffee grinder and a roulette wheel? This fascinating tidbit was revealed during IGN's attendance at GDC 2025, where Team Asobi's studio director, Nicolas Doucet, delivered an enlightening talk titled, "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'". In his presentation, Doucet delved deep into the creative process behind the PlayStation mascot platformer, showcasing a variety of 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, drafted in May 2021, shortly after Team Asobi started prototyping. He revealed that the pitch underwent 23 revisions before being presented to top management. The pitch was creatively illustrated as an adorable comic strip, effectively highlighting the game's main pillars and activities. It's clear that this unique approach helped secure the project's green light.

Doucet then shared how Team Asobi generated ideas, emphasizing extensive brainstorming sessions. The team formed small, multidisciplinary groups of 5-6 people, each contributing ideas through individual sticky notes, resulting in a visually striking brainstorming board:

Not all ideas transitioned to the prototyping phase, Doucet noted, with only about 10% of the brainstormed concepts being developed further. However, this still meant a substantial amount of prototyping. Doucet highlighted the importance of prototyping across all departments, encouraging everyone to explore their ideas. An interesting example was an audio team's prototype of a theater within Astro Bot to experiment with haptic controller vibrations corresponding to different sound effects, such as various door movements.

Prototyping was crucial for Team Asobi, Doucet explained, with certain programmers dedicated to experimenting with non-platforming mechanics. The sponge power-up, which used the adaptive trigger for squeezing, originated from these efforts and became a core feature of the game.

Doucet displayed an image showcasing various prototypes, including the implemented balloon and sponge mechanics, alongside unused ideas like a tennis game, a wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, and a coffee grinder.

Further into the talk, Doucet discussed how levels were designed around specific mechanics, aiming for unique gameplay in each level to avoid repetition. While some power-ups could be reused, their implementation had to differ significantly to maintain variety. He showed images of a cut level themed around bird flights, which was discarded for being too similar to other levels using the monkey power-up.

Concluding his talk, Doucet discussed the game's final scene, offering a **Spoiler Alert** for those who haven't finished Astro Bot:

In the final scene, players reassemble a broken Astro Bot with help from other bots. Initially, the scene was more drastic, with Astro Bot handed to the player completely dismembered, featuring only the torso. This approach upset some playtesters, leading to the less drastic version seen in the final game.

Doucet's talk provided numerous intriguing insights into the development of Astro Bot, a game that received a 9/10 in our review, celebrated as "A fantastically inventive platformer in its own right, Astro Bot is particularly special for anyone with a place in their heart for PlayStation."