(Image credit: Sony)
After its remarkable triumph as Game of the Year at the previous year’s Game Awards, Astro Bot continues to shine by underscoring a crucial message the video game industry needs to embrace. Although the accolade is imaginary, the significance of the discussion is very real.
During a Game Developers Conference panel, which GamesRadar+ attended, Nicolas Doucet, head of Team Asobi, expressed that the intention behind creating Astro Bot was to offer a gaming experience that players could finish within a reasonable timeframe. He stated, “From the start, we were in the mindset that it’s OK to make a compact game … it’s OK to make a small game.” Doucet elaborated, “For us, it means crafting something manageable in scale that allows complete control from a development perspective. Moreover, today’s players face a backlog of games they struggle to complete, so presenting a game that is actually finishable becomes a compelling idea.”
This concept is indeed appealing. Doucet’s perspective is so compelling that it almost tempts one to favor an additional run of Astro Bot over diving into substantial adventures like Assassin’s Creed Shadows—a notion voiced more humorously than realistically. The abundance of sprawling games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows can be overwhelming, pushing many to cry for relief from their excessive load.
So, here’s a call to action: embrace the creation of smaller games. Even if some may overlook personal requests, the success of Astro Bot should serve as an inspiration. Remember, Astro Bot, despite its compact nature, clinched the Game of the Year award, showcasing that you can achieve greatness with smaller scales, much like what Team Asobi demonstrated with Astro Bot.
The announcement of Team Asobi’s ambitious plans for 2024 indicates that it is indeed time to liberate Astro Bot from PlayStation’s confines and explore further horizons.