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

Astro Bot fans are well-acquainted with the story behind the creation of the sponge power-up, but did you know that Team Asobi also experimented with even more unconventional powers, such as a coffee grinder and a roulette wheel? This intriguing piece of information came to light during IGN's coverage of GDC 2025, where Team Asobi's studio director, Nicolas Doucet, delivered a comprehensive talk titled "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'". In his presentation, Doucet delved deep into the development process of the PlayStation mascot platformer, sharing 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, which was drafted in May 2021, shortly after Team Asobi began its prototyping phase. He revealed that the pitch underwent 23 revisions before being presented to top management. The pitch was creatively delivered as an adorable comic strip that highlighted the game's main pillars and activities, which evidently struck a chord with the decision-makers.

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

Next, Doucet elaborated on how the team generated ideas. Unsurprisingly, brainstorming was at the core, but Team Asobi took a unique approach by forming small groups of 5-6 members from diverse disciplines. These groups would brainstorm and jot down their ideas on sticky notes, resulting in a visually striking brainstorming board.

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

Not all ideas progressed to prototyping, Doucet noted. In fact, only about 10% of their brainstormed concepts were actually prototyped. However, this still meant a significant amount of prototyping took place. Doucet emphasized the importance of prototyping across all departments, encouraging everyone to test their ideas. An example he shared was how audio designers created a theater within Astro Bot to experiment with haptic controller vibrations that synchronized with various sound effects, like different ways a door could open and close.

Another slide from the talk, illustrating a sponge prototype alongside concept art of Astro Bot turning into a sponge.

Prototyping was so integral to the Astro Bot development process that a few programmers were dedicated solely to prototyping non-platforming elements. This approach led to the creation of Astro Bot's sponge mechanic, which utilized the adaptive trigger for a fun and engaging experience that ultimately made it into the final game.

Another slide from the talk, showcasing various prototype activities created for Astro Bot.

Doucet shared an image featuring several prototypes that were developed but not incorporated into Astro Bot, alongside those that were. Among these were a balloon and sponge, which made it into the game, and other intriguing concepts like a tennis game, a wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, a coffee grinder, and more.

Later in the talk, Doucet discussed how levels were chosen and designed around specific mechanics. The goal was to ensure that each level offered unique gameplay and did not feel repetitive. Although this didn't preclude using the same power-up across multiple levels, Doucet stressed that the execution needed to be distinct enough to maintain each level's uniqueness. He cited an example of a cut level themed around bird flights, which was dropped due to its similarity to the level Go-Go Archipelago and another in Astro's Playroom that used a similar power-up.

"In the end, it was decided that the overlap was not conducive to creating variety, and we 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."

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

Doucet concluded his talk by discussing the game's final scene, which contains spoilers for those who haven't finished Astro Bot yet. In the final scene, players reassemble a broken Astro Bot with the help of other bots. Originally, players were presented with a completely dismembered Astro, which caused some distress among testers. As a result, the team opted for a slightly more intact version in the final game.

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

Doucet's talk was filled with fascinating insights into the development of Astro Bot. IGN has previously spoken with him about the game, which we awarded a 9/10 in our 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."