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

Fans of Astro Bot are familiar with the story behind the sponge power-up, but did you know that developer Team Asobi also experimented with even more outlandish ideas? At GDC 2025, IGN attended a talk by Team Asobi's studio director Nicolas Doucet titled "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'", where he shared insights into the game's development process, including early prototypes and cut content.

Doucet kicked off the presentation by discussing the initial pitch for Astro Bot, which was drafted in May 2021, shortly after Team Asobi began prototyping. The pitch went through 23 revisions before being presented to top management. It was uniquely conveyed through an adorable comic strip that highlighted the main pillars and activities of the game, proving to be a successful approach.

The creative process at Team Asobi involved extensive brainstorming sessions where small, interdisciplinary groups of 5-6 people generated ideas on sticky notes. This led to a visually striking brainstorming board, showcasing the team's diverse and innovative thinking.

Not all ideas progressed to prototyping, with only about 10% making it to the next stage. Doucet emphasized the importance of prototyping across all departments, including an example where audio designers created a theater within Astro Bot to experiment with haptic controller vibrations corresponding to different sound effects.

Prototyping was crucial for the Astro Bot team, with some programmers dedicated to exploring non-platforming concepts. This approach led to the development of the sponge mechanic, which used the adaptive trigger and became a beloved feature of the game.

Doucet showcased several prototypes that didn't make it into the final game, including a tennis game, a walking wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, and a coffee grinder, alongside successful mechanics like the balloon and sponge.

The talk also covered how levels were designed around specific mechanics, aiming for unique gameplay in each level. Doucet explained that while reusing power-ups was acceptable, the implementation had to be sufficiently different to maintain variety. A cut level themed around bird flights was removed due to its similarities to existing levels.

**Spoilers for the final scene of Astro Bot follow.**

In the game's concluding scene, players reassemble a broken Astro Bot with help from other bots. Initially, the plan was to present players with a completely dismembered Astro, but feedback indicated this was too distressing, leading to the less fragmented version seen in the final game.

Doucet's presentation offered a wealth of fascinating insights into the development of Astro Bot, a game praised for its inventive platforming and special connection to PlayStation fans, earning a 9/10 in our review.