Summary
Astro Botdirector Nicolas Doucet has detailed a lot of interesting content that didn’t make it into the game’s final version. This includes quirky power-ups, abilities, levels, and even a more graphic version ofAstro Bot’sending.
MILD STORY SPOILERS for Astro Bot aheadReleased in September 2024 as a whimsical and light-hearted PS5 platformer,Astro Bottook everyone by surprise with its exceedingly positive reception from critics and players alike. It debuted with a Metacritic aggregate score of 94 percent, and currently sits at a 92 percent user score. Rather astonishingly,Astro Botalso won the coveted Game of the Yearmantle at The Game Awards 2025, and at the time of writing, is the most awarded platformer of all time.
WhileAstro Bothad 90 levels and over 150 VIP bots at launch, director Nicolas Doucet recently revealed that Team Asobi’s content plans for the platformer ran much deeper. Anew report from IGNcovers a GDC 2025 talk dubbed “The Making ofAstro Bot” held by Doucet, where he peeled back the curtain on the game’s development. According to Doucet,Astro Bot’s earliest pitch was drafted back in May 2021, just a few months after Team Asobi began prototyping the game, which went through 23 different iterations before landing on a charming comic strip pitch that won over PlayStation execs.
Astro Bot’s Cut Content Included a Coffee Grinder, Roulette Wheel, and a Bird-Themed Level
After that, small, multidisciplinary groups at Team Asobi generated hundreds of ideas forAstro Botusing sticky notes, but only about 10 percent of them made it to the prototype phase. These yielded abilities like the balloon and sponge, which did make it intoAstro Bot, as well as more outlandish ideas like a roulette wheel and a coffee grinder, which were ultimately cut. A level based around bird flight was also cut because it overlapped too much with the monkey power-up fromAstro’s PlayroomandAstro Bot’s Go-Go Archipelago level.
Astro Bot’s Original Ending Was Rather Graphic and Distressing for Some
Lastly, Doucet revealed thatAstro Bot’s initially-planned endinghanded players afully dismembered Astro- no arms, legs, or even a head - to repair. Expectedly, this made some people “really upset,” as per Doucet, so Team Asobi eschewed the idea in favor of a more intact Astro in the game’s final sequence.
It’s always intriguing to learn about the creative processes and inevitable cut content that are part of a game’s development, especially in the case of a widely-beloved title likeAstro Bot. Team Asobi even releasedfive newAstro Botspeedrun levelsearlier this year, and it remains to be seen if the studio has even more free content planned for the rest of 2025.
