Astro Bot |OT| MC: 94

[BananaKing]

Idk about Lego and astro selling 10 million. But I think 5 million could be a very realistic goal.

[the-pi-guy]

Stop getting my hyped Pi!

Hopefully I love it. 3D mario is one of my favorites mostly due to nostalgia so I wonder if Astroboy will capture me the same way.

I assume you played the VR title and Playroom?

[Legend]

I assume you played the VR title and Playroom?

Na never played the vr game.

Thought playroom was fine. Loved the music.

[the-pi-guy]

Na never played the vr game.

Thought playroom was fine. Loved the music.

The VR title was quite a bit better.

It made me nostalgic for Mario in a way that Mario doesn't even make me nostalgic for.

[kitler53]

Idk about Lego and astro selling 10 million. But I think 5 million could be a very realistic goal.

10 million by the end of the year?   yeah probably not.   10 million by the end of the generation?   i wouldn't bet against them.

embrace the hype.   let the hype wash over your mind and body.  the hype will set you free..

[the-pi-guy]

Inside the making of Astro Bot

Back in 2022, Asobit was around 60 employees, with Doucet expecting it to grow to 100. Instead, they've just added "a handful more" in the two years since.

"We've kept it quite tight," he says. "Even though this game is obviously bigger, it really comes down to people knowing the game well. It's a good size."

They come up with a wealth of ideas, assigns people to them, then gets everyone together after two weeks to showcase, play and review the work.

"We do that right until the end," Doucet tells us. "Now we are in the final, final phase in the game, we replay so much everyday that it's less of a necessity. But it's really needed as we're finding our way. It means everybody keeps track of where we are, but also has a chance to showcase two weeks of work and see people's reaction. A lot of what we do are bite-sized moments of humour and maybe interactive objects, like a toy. They don't take time to make, it's just a large amount of individual pieces. [These check-ins] means you can check you're on the right track, and you're also spotlighting your own work, which can be a powerful motivation."

These meetings feature all 60 employees and last about two and a half hours. An artist might be showcasing several 3D models, or several pages of storyboarding, while an animator goes through multiple animations.

"There are features in the game, even entire levels, which take a good amount of time, several weeks, and we are like: 'You know what, it feels like a double of that other level. And to finish it will be a big investment, and the return on that investment for the player is almost zero, so let's not do it'," Doucet admits.

And indeed, it was this that seemed to excite many of the journalists we spoke to in Los Angeles. In an era where most games, even first-party games, have been built so that they can be played across all sorts of devices – mobile, consoles and PC – it's exciting to find something that has been very purposefully created for one platform.

Doucet concludes: "Very often we have this conversation. There are so many things that are bound to the essence of PlayStation with this game, that it is difficult to imagine it elsewhere. It is really built for PlayStation."

[the-pi-guy]

During Summer Games Fest last week, I frequently asked our friends in the games media what they've seen or played that's impressed them. We don't get to play as much as we'd like at GamesIndustry.biz, and so it's useful intel to hear what the journalists think.

In almost every conversation, one game would come up again and again: Astro Bot.

Thankfully, that was one we did play. The 3D platformer is the follow-up to Astro's Playroom, a small game that's included with every PS5 and showcases the capabilities of the console's DualSense controller. The quality of Astro's Playroom prompted Sony to invest in the developer behind it, Team Asobi, and now they're building a full follow-up, which launches this September.

The game is definitely buzzing the enthusiast circles, but hopefully it'll be able to break out amongst casual players too.

[kitler53]

wow.  only 60 people.   really cheap to make compared to most modern releases.   this should have a huge RoI for Sony.    Hopefully show them that you can win big on a more AA investment and it's worth making these types of games.

[the-pi-guy]

wow.  only 60 people.   really cheap to make compared to most modern releases.   this should have a huge RoI for Sony.    Hopefully show them that you can win big on a more AA investment and it's worth making these types of games.

I'm really hoping that Astro Bot is successful just because it's a great team, but this is another big reason I'm hoping it does well.

A good test to see if a great effectively AA game can be a huge success.

[Legend]

I'm really hoping that Astro Bot is successful just because it's a great team, but this is another big reason I'm hoping it does well.

A good test to see if a great effectively AA game can be a huge success.

With how big modern teams often are, is 60 people even AA? Only half joking  

[the-pi-guy]

It would also be cool to have a big "Japan Studio" success.

With how big modern teams often are, is 60 people even AA? Only half joking  

It would be pretty cool if one of Sony's biggest games was an A game.

[kitler53]

It would also be cool to have a big "Japan Studio" success.
It would be pretty cool if one of Sony's biggest games was an A game.

they are charging almost full price ($60).   if this were to sell even par to horizon FW or spiderman 2 I think that would really get management to reevaluate investing in more smaller titles.   

it's not just the fewer people.  the time between releases appears to be smaller too.  

[the-pi-guy]

I'm pretty Japanese developers get paid less than most too.

[kitler53]

I'm pretty Japanese developers get paid less than most too.

sure but that doesn't really support my desired outcome.  any game could be moved to cheaper labor regions. I want more middle investment games in genres that aren't open world cinematic.   games like journey and fat princess and echochrome. 

[Legend]

Price Bet:

$70: Legend (x1), Pi (x1)
$60:
$50: Legend (x1), Pi (x1), Nnodley (x1)
$40: Nnodley (x1)

Pot: $300

Bet $100 for one choice, or $50 each for two choices. Win the pot.

Wait so $60 is confirmed? No one won?