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

Astro Bot fans are familiar with the iconic sponge power-up, but did you know that Team Asobi, the game's developers, also experimented with even more unconventional powers like a coffee grinder and a roulette wheel? This fascinating tidbit 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 into the intricate process of crafting 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 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 presented as an adorable comic strip that highlighted the game's main pillars and activities, a format that evidently resonated well with the decision-makers.

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 collaboratively brainstormed, jotting down their ideas on sticky notes. This method led to a visually striking brainstorming board, as shown in one of the slides from the talk.

Not all ideas progressed to the prototyping stage, Doucet noted. Only about 10% of the brainstormed concepts were actually prototyped. However, this still resulted in a significant amount of prototyping. Doucet emphasized the importance of prototyping across all departments, encouraging everyone, including audio designers, to experiment with their ideas. An example he shared was an audio team's creation of a theater within Astro Bot to test haptic controller vibrations corresponding to various sound effects, such as different ways a door could open and close.

Prototyping was a cornerstone of the Astro Bot development process, Doucet explained, with some programmers dedicated solely to prototyping non-platforming elements. This approach led to the creation of the sponge mechanic, which was prototyped using the adaptive trigger and ultimately incorporated into the game due to its fun factor.

Doucet shared an image showcasing several prototypes, including the balloon and sponge that made it into the game, alongside others like a tennis game, a wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, and a coffee grinder that did not.

Later in the talk, Doucet discussed how levels were chosen and designed around specific mechanics. The goal was to ensure each level offered unique gameplay and did not feel repetitive. While the same power-up could be used in multiple levels, its implementation had to be distinct enough to maintain the level's uniqueness. Doucet illustrated this with examples of a cut level themed around bird flights, which was deemed too similar to existing 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 said. "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."

Doucet concluded his talk by discussing the game's final scene, which contains **spoilers** for those who haven't finished Astro Bot. In the final scene, players reassemble a broken Astro Bot with the help of other bots. Initially, the player was presented with a completely dismembered Astro, but this was changed to a more intact version after feedback indicated it was too upsetting for some players.

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