summary
- Astro Bot went through 23 pitch iterations prior to approval.
- The original dark ending included balance, but was not accepted.
- With success, Sony has pushed for more family-friendly games.
Given the simpler premise compared to other AAA fares, its development did not dive down one after another to win game awards for nab’s game awards, but its development did not go as smoothly as it could be.
Team Asboi reviewed over 20 pitches before the project was approved. One pitch took up the balance of robots for more drama.
The Astorobot experienced 23 pitch iterations before the top brass was shown
Speaking to Games Radar at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), Game Director Nicolas Doucet said the first pitch of the game occurred in May 2021 and prototyping began several months later. “I went through 23 iterations before being shown to Top Management,” Doucet said.
Once the pitch was complete, it was presented to PlayStation executives using lighter terms such as Happy Gameplay, Techon Magic, Techno Magic, Angion, Animation, Music, etc.
Doucet claims to have “delivered a game that was pretty close to the original pitch,” but team Asobi originally had a much darker ending in mind.
Spoiler warning: If you haven’t finished the game, then what’s shared will be discussing the ending of Astro Bot next, so please proceed at your own discretion.
Doucet originally wanted to have a different ending in mind, “at the end of the game, we wanted to create a very sad moment when Astro sacrifices himself for the team and rebuilds Astro as the credits roll,” Doucet shared about the studio’s plans. This made it a game that included “Acquiring a torso without a head because it included a completely detached astro.”
As you might expect, this didn’t sit well with some people, including team members of Team Asobi. “Some people were really upset with the team for good reasons,” Doucet said. After trying out some alternative endings, the studio “landed with a humorous, light approach, where the player swaps all the parts, but still conveys the right emotions. The head is always in Astro’s body,” commented Doucet.
Based on the reception, Team Asobi appears to have chosen a suitable path for the Astorobot ending. So you can imagine the appearance of a young player playing the game and looking at the dismembered bodies of Astro? Yes, it’s not a beautiful sight.
While Astro Bot may not look like a technically impressive game compared to other AAA titles, one team Asobi Dev mentioned how they pushed the PS5’s processing power to “its limits.”
With the success of Astro Bot, Sony is now seeking such a family-friendly title.
