Astro Bot’s creative director, Nicolas Doucet, has shared that the challenging levels known as VIP Bot stages were initially intended to be smaller in scale during the game’s development. In an interview with Famitsu (translated by Genki), Doucet explained that these VIP Bot stages were initially designed as mini-stages instead of complete ones.
Originally conceived as a small stage, the [VIP Stage] grew larger and larger, as stated by Doucet (translated via Firefox). However, it’s far from being small now.
In the end, these VIP Stages became greatly admired by players of Astro Bot, as they played a significant role in honoring PlayStation’s history by showcasing classic franchises within the charming perspective of a platformer. Some games alluded to in these stages include Ape Escape, depicted in the Apes on the Loose stage, God of War through the Bot of War stage, and even Poco Loco, the PSP platformer, referenced in the Going Loco stage.
From its debut on PS5 in September 2024, Astro Bot has achieved remarkable success for Sony. The company disclosed in November that the game had already surpassed sales of over 1.5 million units. Apart from being a financial triumph, Astro Bot also garnered widespread critical acclaim, securing the top spot as the highest-rated game of 2024 on Metacritic.
Afterward, the game “Astro Bot” has been consistently receiving updates for free, adding not just new levels but also special occasions with custom-themed stages. For instance, a Winter Wonder stage was launched in December, where players could join in on the Christmas spirit by searching for “bright presents”.
In February, Sony hinted at a desire to offer more family-focused games on PlayStation. During a conference call discussing earnings, President Hiroki Totoki mentioned that the positive reception of Astro Bot could prompt them to develop more family-friendly titles for PlayStation.
At The Game Awards 2024, our own game “Astro Bot” triumphed in four categories, including Game of the Year and Best Family Game – more than any other title, according to Totoki. He also cheered for the success of the cooperative action game “Helldivers 2”.
He also mentioned that ‘Helldivers 2’, a live-service game launched in February of last year, won both Best Ongoing Game and Best Multiplayer Game accolades. The recognition of such titles, particularly those in genres we’re looking to expand, like family games and live-service games, is an important step forward in developing a diverse catalog of top-tier games.
In February, an upgrade for Astro Bot was rolled out, offering five fresh levels (distributed weekly), alongside compatibility with the enhanced PS5 Pro hardware. One of the newly added levels is Tick-Tock Shock, which made its debut through a speedrunning competition earlier in 2021.
Initially, the exclusive VIP Bot levels in Astro Bot were intended only as small stages, according to Creative Director Nicolas Doucet.
Initially, he mentioned that the plans were for the stages to be quite compact, but it turned out they weren’t “tiny” in the slightest!
— Genki✨ (@Genki_JPN) March 3, 2025
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2025-03-04 16:52