Astro Bot almost went open-world, but opted for 80 planets instead because that led to “the most control over the game’s variety”

Astro Bot serves as a kind of “new beginning” for the platforming mascot that won everyone over while pat-patting around our controllers in PS5 pack-in game Astro’s Playroom. But while trying to reintroduce the loveable hero in a much-larger, full-priced adventure, the developers at Team Asobi almost went down an open-world route.

Speaking to Edge Magazine in its 400th Issue, which features a whopping ten unique covers with different cosplaying Astro Bots on each, creative director Nicholas Doucet said the team “did consider, at first: should this be an open-world game?” The only reason that Astro Bot eventually “went for a level-based approach” was “because that was the one that gave us the most control over the game’s variety.”