Astro Bot creative director Nicolas Doucet has revealed that the platforming title’s VIP Bot stages were originally much smaller in scale. In an interview with Japanese publication Famitsu (translation via Genki on Twitter), Doucet revealed that they were conceived as mini-stages rather than full-on levels.
“The [VIP Stage] was initially thought of as a mini-stage, but it got bigger and bigger,” said Doucet (translated via Firefox). “It’s not mini at all.”
Ultimately, these VIP Stages ended up being widely celebrated by Astro Bot players since they had a large part in celebrating the history of PlayStation by exploring classic franchises through the lens of the cheerful platformer. Some of the games referenced by these stages include Ape Escape through the Apes on the Loose stage, God of War through the Bot of War stage, and even PSP platformer Poco Loco through the Going Loco stage.
Since its PS5 release back in September 2024, Astro Bot has been incredibly successful for Sony. The company revealed back in November that the game had sold more than 1.5 million copies at the time. Along with being a commercial success, it was also critically acclaimed, ending up as the highest rated game of 2024 on Metacritic.
Since then, Astro Bot has continued to get support through free updates that brought with them not only new stages but also celebratory events with their own themed stages. For example, December saw the release of the Winter Wonder level, which had players celebrate Christmas by finding “shiny presents”.
Back in February, Sony expressed an interest in bringing more family-oriented games to PlayStation. President Hiroki Totoki spoke during an earnings call that the success of Astro Bot would be worth exploring more family-friendly games to PlayStation.
“At The Game Awards 2024, our first-party title Astro Bot won four categories, including Game of the Year and Best Family Game – the most of any title,” said Totoki.
February also brought an update to Astro Bot that features five new levels released weekly, as well as support for the souped-up hardware of the PS5 Pro. Among the levels released in the update was Tick-Tock Shock, which was originally revealed in a speedrunning tournament earlier this year.
Astro Bot Creative Director Nicolas Doucet said that the special VIP Bot stages in Astro Bot were originally just supposed to be mini stages!
He said the plan at the start was to have them as small stages but they turned out to be not “mini” at all!https://t.co/pDJIUguRcH pic.twitter.com/gBvxFIQW4M
— Genki✨ (@Genki_JPN) March 3, 2025
