How Team Asobi Accidentally Made The New Face of PlayStation

Is Astro, the star of Astro's Playroom and Astro Bot, a Sony mascot? Nicolas Doucet isn't so sure. On a recent trip to Team Asobi's studio in Japan, we got an up-close look at how Astro came to be and the design philosophy that drives the studio's playful, polished little automaton.

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[ahmarcamacho]

Astro bot is the perfect mascot, plus the other astro bots literally cosplay Playstation's other characters. It's a win on all fronts.

[pilouuuu]

From Concord to Astrobot. What a wild week for Sony!

[asasphinx]

I don't know if Astro officially is, but I think it could and should be. If Sony actually dedicates the effort towards it and encourages Team Asobi to resume fleshing it out this could be their equivalent of Mario games for PlayStation, and it would feel nice for them to have a proper platform mascot.

[jayden]

Astro Kart when? Would be peak gaming.

[CitrusArchitect]

Astro represents what Sony wants to be: sleek, polished, high-end gaming. A futuristic yet super cute robot is a perfect mascot.

The game makes me want to be a Sony fan. That speaks volumes.

[DesignGeek]

The key thing for a mascot is that it needs to be able to represent the entire brand. One of the difficult things with PlayStation is that it has meant different things to gamers during different eras, so that having a single IP represent the whole brand is a tall order.

The genius of Astro Bot is that it can easily morph to showcase every IP they have or will ever have, while still staying true to the Astro aesthetic. If you want proof, look at the character design of the special bots or the special levels which are a homage to PlayStation IP.

The main thing that goes against Astro at the moment is that it needs time to forge the connection in people’s minds between it and PS to the point they become synonymous. In my opinion though, it’s well on its way.

[Aubue]

I'm so happy for Team Asobi, I hope they keep making more and more of these games.

[punjabeeplaya]

Such a humble view of their work. Great job team Asobi.

[jonSLAYR]

Excited to see the Astro Bot Movie in 10 years

[jamesnyren]

I think Astro Bot should be the mascot, I have so much nostalgia for when I got my PS5 and played it on Christmas Day

[AlexThorn]

ASTRO absolutely should be the face of playstation. It's what they're missing. Mario is nintendo, sonic is Sega and ASTRO is playstation.

[SynthLizard]

IF Sony treats Astrobot right, this could very well be their Super Mario.

[inabearsuit]

This game reminds me why games are so fun. It's an amazing piece of gaming and I hope we see more from this studio. This where 200 million of live service game should go, to focus on more projects like thjs

[mau]

What happened to SackBoi from Little Big Planet. That was cool character in a cool game.

[AvocadoDesperado_]

I can’t believe how good this game is. Whoever came up with the dual sense is an absolute genius 😮🎉❤❤❤❤

[farahs]

I viewed Astro as THE mascot since the PS5 release, because the game came with the Playstation and the core part of the story doesn't just feature Astro but the Playstation and the Controller itself. The games are also unrivaled when it comes to making use of the haptic feedback and inbuilt speakers, plus the mechanics have the most playful and joyful approach I've seen in a good while. Astro is cute, he's associated with fun and entertainment and appeals to a broad audience. That makes him the perfect mascot and I hope Sony keeps him. In other words: I NEED MERCH, haha

[MercoLunarTarus]

It's a mascot in the same way Kirby is a mascot. It's design is simple so other characters can be superimposed onto it.

[Cri_Jackal]

5:26 there were a ton of third party characters in Astro's Playroom already, Alucard, Dante, Crash and Spyro, and a whole diorama for Resident Evil were all there.

[misusatriyo]

astro is one of the most successful tech demos in video games history

[Retrophoenix-]

I think the only thing astro needs is time to become more related to PlayStation as a mascot. I think once he starts becoming much more involved with the advertising for the console then he'd become a full fledged mascot in my eyes.

Like imagine a little astro sitting on top of a PS5 whenever the console was shown. It'd be great and then everyone would associate the console with the little robot.