Astro Bot’s Director Wants To See More Games People Can ‘Actually Complete’

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Summary

  • Not all games need to be lengthy open-world epics to offer a fulfilling experience.
  • “Astro Bot” director emphasizes the benefits of creating smaller games for higher quality.
  • “Astro Bot” was successful with a shorter development time and convinced Sony to release more family-friendly games.

Instead of focusing on expansive, open-world epics that consume countless hours, some games are designed for a more compact and conclusive playthrough within a few days. It’s not mandatory for every game to emulate the structure of a 75-hour action-RPG to deliver a rich gaming experience.

For instance: Astro Bot, developed by Team Asobi, isn’t a traditional open-world game filled with multiple skill branches, but it doesn’t need such features to provide an enjoyable gaming experience. As stated by its director, Nicolas Doucet, not every game has to be the next groundbreaking title.

“It’s Okay To Make A Small Game,” Claims Astro Bot’s Director

At the GDC 2025 conference, as reported by Game Developer, Nicolas Doucet delivered an enlightening talk titled “The Creation of Astro Bot”. The session was well-attended. During his presentation, Doucet emphasized the importance of creating a small game and showed a picture of Team Asobi’s guidebook that underscored their commitment to quality rather than volume.

Doucet points out that focusing on smaller projects provides a greater sense of mastery and control over the work itself, as well as increasing the likelihood that players will see the project through to completion, given its compact scale.

As a gamer, I’d say, “Finishing a game is a truly wonderful thing, and it’s one of the strongest points in favor of smaller games. For me, if a game lasts 12 hours, that’s perfect, but if it’s just eight hours and those hours are packed with quality gameplay, I’d be more than content.

Unlike many large-scale AAA games that often take years in development, Astro Bot was created in merely three and a half years – even though its creators, Team Asobi, originally intended for six months less. They managed to stay within budget by modifying the studio’s growth trajectory, opting for fewer team members over an extended period instead of rushing the project with more developers.

Regardless of what Team Asobi executed, it proved successful. Last year’s The Game Awards saw their platformer taking home the coveted Game of the Year title, and it was so impactful that it managed to persuade Sony’s president to endorse more family-friendly games similar to it for release.

Despite appearing less complex graphically than games like God of War or the Horizon series, a developer from Team Asobi stated that Astro Bot is indeed taxing the PS5’s processing capabilities to its maximum potential.

Given the escalating expenses in game development today and considering that numerous individuals who enjoy gaming have commitments that prevent them from dedicating extensive periods, such as two weeks or more, to a single game, I believe it’s time for a surge of compact games! It would be ideal if many game studios recognized the success of Astro Bot and understood that not every game has to be an open-world action-RPG blockbuster as motivation.

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2025-03-22 02:09