How Astro Bot's iconic PlayStation bots were made

Team Asobi on how the picked them, how fast they can make a bot and why some expected characters aren't in there. Plus: Some concept sketches.

Astro Bot. Screenshot: Team Asobi, Sony Interactive Entertainment. (Captured by Game File)

When the makers of the acclaimed PlayStation 5 exclusive Astro Bot decided that around 150 of the collectible robots in the game would be based on icons of PlayStation’s past, they started making a list.

First were the obvious modern stars like Kratos and Nathan Drake. They had to include the blockbusters, Nicolas Doucet, the head of the game’s Tokyo-based studio, Team Asobi, recently told me over a video call. 

Then came the icons who aren’t as widely seen today: PaRappa the Rapper, Sly Cooper, Jak and Daxter, and others like them.

“At that point you have a kind of no-brainer list, and that's already getting to maybe 50, 60 characters,” he said.

There had to be some deep cuts, too. “At that point, you're talking to less people,” Doucet said, referring to the gamers who’d catch the references. “But the ones you’re talking to may have the fondest memories.” 

For that part of the list, Team Asobi’s picks included characters from Vib-Ribbon and The Legend of Dragoon. They added some PlayStation mascots including Japan’s Toro and Kuro, plus a character created to hype the original PlayStation in the U.S., Polygon Man. They even picked a chef from Ore No Ryouri, a Japan-only PS1 game from 1999 that, in the same spirit that drove Team Asobi’s playfulness with the PS5’s joypad, utilized the old system’s controller to mimic cooking motions.

“They need to be games that have left people with a positive impression and genuine nostalgia,” Doucet said of all the picks.

Team Asobi also wanted characters from third-party games, because so much of PlayStation’s early heritage was defined by the likes of the Konami-published Metal Gear Solid, Namco’s Ridge Racer, Capcom’s Resident Evil and more.

“I was thinking, ‘Well, maybe half of the ones we're wishing for will make it,” he said. “In the end, in fact, almost 100% are in, because these partners just raised their hand and said, ‘Absolutely.’”

Making the list was one thing. Making the bots was another. During my interview with Doucet and Team Asobi’s director of animation, Jamie Smith, we discussed how the PlayStation-themed bots were created, some tweaks that happened along the way, and even some characters that didn’t make the cut. 

My kids, who were playing Astro Bot near me as I interviewed the developers, also each asked a question of their own.