Astro Bot's Cut Content: Bird Flight Level and Headless Astro Revealed

Fans of Astro Bot are familiar with the charming tale behind the sponge power-up, but did you know that Team Asobi, the game's developer, explored even more outlandish ideas? At GDC 2025, IGN attended a talk by Team Asobi's studio director, Nicolas Doucet, titled "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'", where he delved deep into the game's development process. Doucet shared early prototype images and discussed content that didn't make the final cut, offering a fascinating glimpse into the creative journey behind the beloved PlayStation mascot platformer.

Doucet began his presentation by discussing the initial pitch for Astro Bot, which was crafted in May 2021, shortly after Team Asobi started prototyping. He revealed that the pitch went through 23 revisions before being presented to top management. The pitch was creatively delivered as an adorable comic strip that showcased the game's main pillars and activities, ultimately proving successful in securing the project's green light.

The process of generating ideas was a highlight of Doucet's talk. Team Asobi employed a method of extensive brainstorming, forming small, interdisciplinary groups of 5-6 people. Each member contributed ideas via sticky notes, resulting in an impressive brainstorming board that showcased the team's creativity.

Doucet noted that only about 10% of these brainstormed ideas made it to the prototyping phase. Yet, this still meant a significant amount of prototyping took place. He emphasized the importance of prototyping across all departments, not just game design. For instance, audio designers created a theater within Astro Bot to experiment with haptic controller vibrations synchronized with various sound effects, such as different door mechanisms.

The significance of prototyping was further underscored by Doucet, who mentioned that certain team programmers were dedicated to prototyping non-platforming mechanics. This approach led to the creation of Astro Bot's iconic sponge mechanic, which utilized the adaptive trigger for a fun squeezing action and was subsequently integrated into the game.

Doucet showcased an image of several prototypes, including those that made it into the game, like the balloon and sponge, and others that didn't, such as a tennis game, a wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, and a coffee grinder.

The talk also covered the process of level selection and design, which aimed to ensure each level offered unique gameplay. Doucet explained that while the same power-up could be used across multiple levels, its expression needed to differ significantly to maintain level uniqueness. He provided examples of a cut level themed around bird flights, which was deemed too similar to existing levels using the monkey power-up, and thus was removed to enhance variety.

In the final segment of his talk, Doucet discussed the game's concluding scene, which contains **spoilers** for those who haven't completed Astro Bot. In the original concept, players were to reassemble a completely dismembered Astro Bot, but this was altered due to negative feedback, resulting in the more intact version seen in the final game.

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."