Astro Bot: Cut Content Revealed - Bird Flight Level and Headless Astro

Astro Bot fans are familiar with the iconic sponge power-up, but did you know that developer Team Asobi also experimented with even more unconventional powers, such as a coffee grinder and a roulette wheel? This fascinating insight came to light during IGN's coverage of GDC 2025, where Team Asobi's studio director, Nicolas Doucet, delivered a captivating talk titled, "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'". In his presentation, Doucet delved deep into the development process of the PlayStation mascot platformer, showcasing early prototype images and revealing content that didn't make the final cut.

Doucet kicked off his talk by discussing the initial pitch for Astro Bot, which was crafted in May 2021, shortly after Team Asobi began prototyping. He revealed that the pitch underwent 23 revisions before being presented to top management. The pitch was uniquely presented as an adorable comic strip that highlighted the game's main pillars and activities, which evidently struck a chord and led to its approval.

A slide from Nicholas Doucet's GDC talk, "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'", showing a comic book explanation of the game's pitch.

Doucet then explained the team's approach to generating ideas, which involved extensive brainstorming sessions. Team Asobi formed small, interdisciplinary groups of 5-6 people who contributed ideas via sticky notes, resulting in a visually striking brainstorming board. However, not all ideas progressed to the prototyping stage; only about 10% of the brainstormed concepts were actually prototyped. Doucet emphasized the importance of prototyping across all departments, including an example where audio designers created a theater within Astro Bot to experiment with haptic controller vibrations corresponding to various sound effects.

Another slide from the talk, showcasing sticky note brainstorms from Team Asobi.

Another slide from the talk, showing a sponge prototype alongside concept art of Astro Bot becoming a sponge.

Prototyping was a cornerstone of the Astro Bot development process, with dedicated programmers focusing on non-platforming elements. This approach led to the creation of the sponge mechanic, which utilized the adaptive trigger for a fun and engaging gameplay experience. Doucet shared images of various prototypes, including those that didn't make it into the final game, such as a tennis game, a walking wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, and a coffee grinder.

Another slide from the talk showing various prototype activities that were made for Astro Bot.

Doucet also discussed the level design process, emphasizing the goal of ensuring each level offered unique gameplay to avoid repetition. While some power-ups could be reused, their implementation had to be distinct enough to maintain variety. He cited an example of a cut level themed around bird flights, which was deemed too similar to existing levels and thus removed to allow the team to focus on more diverse content.

Another slide, showing a cut level from Astro Bot alongside two other implemented levels.

In the final segment of his talk, Doucet touched on the game's concluding scene, which involves reassembling a broken Astro Bot. Initially, the scene featured a more dismembered Astro, but feedback led to a less distressing version in the final game.

A clip from Doucet's presentation showing the original ending of Astro Bot.

Doucet's presentation at GDC 2025 provided a wealth of insights into the development of Astro Bot, a game that IGN praised with a 9/10 score, describing 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."