Astro Bot Is a 'New Beginning' and the 'Biggest Game We've Ever Made', Team Asobi Says

Team Asobi is finally taking a swing at a full-fledged Astro Bot title, and it says it’s “the biggest game we’ve ever made.”

Studio head Nicolas Doucet spoke on the team’s ambitions during an interview with Entertainment Weekly. He says they set out to make the game, simply titled Astro Bot, to be big, adding that it represents more than just the start of Asobi’s new future with PlayStation.

"This is really about going up one notch — really several notches — and having Astro's big story."

"We wanted to make a big game," Doucet said. "This is really about going up one notch — really several notches — and having Astro's big story. We call it Astro Bot because we treat this as a new beginning. That's a really, really big game. I think for us, that's the biggest game we've ever made."

PlayStation’s Astro Bot mascot has largely stayed out of the spotlight for the last few years. Some players may recognize the adorable little blue-and-white friend from the PSVR-exclusive Astro Bot Rescue Mission or, more recently, Astro’s Playroom, a game granted to PlayStation 5 owners for free. While these titles flew under the radar for many, they’ve still managed to impress those who checked them out (we gave Rescue Mission a 9/10 and Playroom an 8/10).

Astro Bot finally stepped up when the series’ standalone title was revealed during yesterday’s May 2024 State of Play presentation. PlayStation has already confirmed the project features more than 80 levels that will see players trekking across forests, deserts, volcanos, and more. The footage we’ve seen so far teases an ambitious outing for Sony’s versatile little robot, but not everything is completely new.

Astro Bot will also continue a trend set up in previous installments by including references to other PlayStation titles. Where Astro’s Playroom had players digging for shoutouts to games from across the company’s history, yesterday’s reveal trailer put robot versions of characters like Nathan Drake, Kratos, Ico, and many more front and center. There’s no telling just how many easter eggs are waiting, especially considering Asobi teased that it doubled down on its cast this time around.

"It's a kind of eye candy," Doucet added. "There's going to be more. We're going to be talking over time about what they mean to the game, but, yes, there's going to be a big reunion. There's a lot of characters from the PlayStation universe crossing over with Astro's path. It's an Astro Bot story, of course, with Astro being the main character, but there's a lot of PlayStation characters that play a part."

Asobi was officially welcomed under the PlayStation umbrella in 2021. Its biggest title to date, Astro Bot, launches for PS5 on September 6, 2024. For more, you can read up on everything else that was announced during the latest State of Play.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.