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

Astro Bot fans are well-acquainted with the story behind the beloved sponge power-up, but did you know that Team Asobi, the developers behind the game, explored even more unconventional ideas during its development? At GDC 2025, IGN had the chance to attend a talk by Team Asobi's studio director, Nicolas Doucet, titled "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'". In this insightful session, Doucet delved into the creative process behind the PlayStation mascot platformer, revealing early prototype images and discussing content that didn't make the final cut.

Doucet kicked off his presentation by sharing the initial pitch for Astro Bot, crafted in May 2021, shortly after the team began its prototyping phase. This pitch evolved through 23 revisions before being presented to top management. The pitch was uniquely presented as an adorable comic strip that outlined the game's main pillars and activities, which evidently struck a chord with the decision-makers.

A slide from Nicolas Doucet's GDC talk, showcasing the comic book-style pitch for Astro Bot.

He 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 collaboratively brainstormed and documented their ideas on sticky notes, resulting in a visually stunning brainstorming board.

A slide from the talk, displaying the brainstorming board covered in sticky notes.

Doucet noted that only about 10% of these brainstormed ideas made it to the prototyping stage. However, the volume of prototypes was substantial, emphasizing the importance of prototyping in the development process. He highlighted how every team member, including those from non-design departments, was encouraged to prototype their ideas. For instance, audio designers created a theater within Astro Bot to test haptic controller vibrations in sync with various sound effects.

A slide showing a prototype of the sponge power-up and concept art of Astro Bot transforming into a sponge.

The commitment to prototyping extended to having dedicated programmers who focused on experimenting with non-platforming mechanics. This approach led to the development of the sponge mechanic, where the adaptive trigger was used to simulate squeezing water out of a sponge, which proved fun and was incorporated into the game.

A slide displaying various prototypes, including the balloon and sponge mechanics that were used, alongside others like a tennis game, a wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, and a coffee grinder that were not.

Doucet also discussed how levels were designed to complement specific mechanics, ensuring each level offered unique gameplay and avoided repetition. He provided examples of levels that were cut, such as one themed around bird flights, which was deemed too similar to existing levels featuring the monkey power-up.

A slide showing a cut level alongside two implemented levels in Astro Bot.

In the talk's conclusion, Doucet touched on the game's final scene, which includes spoilers for those who haven't completed Astro Bot. Initially, the scene involved the player reassembling a completely dismembered Astro Bot, but feedback indicated that this was too distressing for some players. As a result, the scene was adjusted to feature a slightly more intact Astro Bot.

A clip from Doucet's presentation showing the original, more intense version of Astro Bot's ending.

Doucet's talk provided a fascinating look into the development of Astro Bot, a game that IGN praised with a 9/10 review, 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."