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

Astro Bot enthusiasts are familiar with the beloved sponge power-up, but did you know that Team Asobi, the game's developer, experimented with even quirkier abilities like a coffee grinder and a roulette wheel? This fascinating tidbit came to light when IGN attended GDC 2025, where Team Asobi's studio director, Nicolas Doucet, delivered a captivating talk titled "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'". Doucet provided a deep dive into the creation of the PlayStation mascot platformer, showcasing early prototypes and revealing cut content that never made it into the final game.

Doucet began his presentation by discussing the initial pitch for Astro Bot, crafted in May 2021, shortly after Team Asobi started its prototyping phase. The pitch underwent 23 revisions before being presented to senior management. It was pitched as an endearing comic strip that outlined the game's core pillars and activities, a concept that evidently struck a chord with the team.

Next, Doucet shared how the team brainstormed ideas, a process that involved forming small, interdisciplinary groups of 5-6 people. These groups used sticky notes to jot down and sketch their ideas, resulting in a visually impressive brainstorming board.

Not every idea progressed to prototyping, Doucet noted, with only about 10% of the brainstormed concepts being developed further. However, this still amounted to extensive prototyping. He 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 for various sound effects, such as door movements.

Doucet highlighted the significance of prototyping, mentioning that some programmers were dedicated solely to exploring non-platforming ideas. This led to the creation of Astro Bot's sponge mechanic, which utilized the adaptive trigger for a fun and engaging gameplay element that was ultimately included in the game.

The slide shared by Doucet showcased a variety of prototypes, including the balloon and sponge that made it into the game, as well as others like a tennis game, a wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, and a coffee grinder that did not.

Doucet also discussed the selection and design of levels, emphasizing the goal of ensuring each level offered unique gameplay. 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 too similar to other levels using the monkey power-up.

"In the end, it was decided that the overlap was not healthy enough to create variety, and we just cut this level entirely," he explained. "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."

In closing his talk, Doucet touched on the game's final scene, which contains **spoilers for those who haven't completed Astro Bot yet. Proceed with caution.**

In the final scene, players reassemble a broken Astro Bot with help from other bots. Initially, the scene involved handing players a completely dismembered Astro Bot, which some found upsetting. This feedback led to the adoption of the more intact version seen in the final game.

Doucet's talk was packed with intriguing details about the development of Astro Bot, a game that IGN praised highly, awarding it a 9/10 and 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."