Summary
Over the years, we’ve seenPlayStationlean further and further into grimdark, single-player experiences,with the occasional live service disasterto keep things interesting. Gone are the days when PlayStation had a wide range of colorful platformers and action games to turn to, as its first-party studios now concentrate more and more on hard-hitting stories and hyperrealistic graphics.
Team Asobi has been the exception to the rule over the past six years, having released two colorful and whimsical Astro Bot games, with a third -and potentially its best yet- just on the horizon. It’s a studio that knows it’s rather unique compared to the rest of PlayStation’s first-party developers, and it turns out Team Asobi very deliberately wanted the unique position it’s found itself in.
Speaking in an interview with VGC, studio head Nicolas Doucet explained that Team Asobi set out to “fill that gap” that had been left by other PlayStation studios that have gone on to focus on more mature experiences.
“If you consider the history of PlayStation and how every studio has positioned themselves, it’s interesting that – and this is also what I show management – as the audience of PlayStation grew, a lot of these [studios] went from making cartoon games to a little bit more mature, hyperrealistic games,” says Doucet.
Astro Bot Devs Aim To “Fill The Gap” Left By PlayStation’s Mature Studios
“That’s when we at Team Asobi as a studio decided that we really wanted to fill that gap, that used to be the gap filled by other studios 20–25 years ago. That’s really where we want to be: all ages, colorful etc. Even if we made a horror game, it would be a funny horror game.”
Even if you may’t see anything wrong with PlayStation’s more recent output, you can’t deny that Doucet is correct in his assessment that many of PlayStation’s renowned studios just aren’t interested in making the colorful platformers they’re loved for. Naughty Dog got started with the likes of Jak & Daxter, but issolely focused on The Last of Us right now.
Similarly, Sucker Punch seems all in on turning Ghost of Tsushima into a massive franchise,much to the dismay of Sly Cooper fans. PlayStation has found itself in need of a studio that makes the colorful and vibrant games that it was once known for, and Team Asobi seems to be more than happy to take up the mantle, and could even haveanother Astro Bot game in the works right now. Hopefully, Astro Bot’s success gives PlayStation something to think about.
Astro Bot
WHERE TO PLAY
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