Game news It’s the PS5 video game that everyone is waiting for, but it could really surprise us in the future!
What if the Astro Bot license stopped cameos from PlayStation characters? According to the studio, it’s not impossible.
The next installment of Astro Bot will be packed with iconic PlayStation characters, with over 150 heroes from popular franchises like Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted and God of War. This approach, already present in the previous opus Astro’s Playroom, largely contributed to the success of the saga. In 2020, we already encountered the hunters from Bloodborne, Jill Valentine or even Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn; In short, Astro’s Playroom celebrated PlayStation and its licenses, just like its successor will do. But should we expect this kind of collaborations or easter eggs to become a tradition for the rest of the series? Nicolas Doucet, creative director and studio head at Asobi Team, qualifies this idea in a recent interview with VGC, in which he explains that future Astro games will not necessarily be required to include PlayStation characters. Indeed, according to him, the flexibility of the Astro franchise allows the team not to be confined to a single formula.
“Early in development, we had discussions about whether to build on the PlayStation universe. Some were hesitant, thinking it would be better to stand on our own feet. But ultimately, we concluded that it would be better. was already what we were doing, and we could add this PlayStation layer without problem. So why not?
In summary, integrating key characters from PlayStation licenses is absolutely not an obligation for the future of the series : “That was our state of mind. If in the future we had an all-Astro adventure and PlayStation wasn’t part of it, I don’t think it would be a problem. As long as the core elements and qualities of the game are great, I think anything is possible.”
“It’s a very flexible IP and that’s one of the things I like about it. We approached the game with a light heart and didn’t write a story: we’re not too pedantic on the details, except for the character design, which must be respected. The rest is really open, and thanks to that we can feel quite relaxed about what happens next.”
Planned exit at retirement
Astro Bot, Sony’s robotic mascot, will return on September 6 to brighten up the start of the school year. Nicolas Doucet, the director of the studio, recently revealed in an interview with IGN that free DLC is already planned. It will feature additional “challenge” levels, shorter experiences focused on challenges, and surely more Sony-made cameos not yet present in the base game. Among the characters that players hope to see appear, we can cite PaRappa the Robot, Kratos and Atreus from God of War, or the traveler from Journey.