how a simple tech demo for Playstation became Game of the Year at The Game Awards

The little robot from Playstation won the title of game of the year at the Game Awards ceremony. A surprise success for a little girl that we didn't expect.

Stuck between titles with millions of players, Astro Bot made his hole. The game released last September was not necessarily on players' agendas, and yet, with excellent reviews, it was the one that won the title of game of the year at the Game Awards.

Of course, the American ceremony rewarded the most consensual title on the list, ahead of the excellent – but controversial – Chinese game Black Myth: Week. Yet, Astro Bot quickly established itself as a little video game nugget, which Tech&Co was able to try exclusively in France last June.

“Astro is back for a great big adventure,” said Nicolas Doucet, boss of Team Asobi, the game developer, to Tech&Co. “Astro’s Playroomit was a love letter to the Playstation with this little robot that visited the inside of the console. With Astro Botwe are no longer on a technical demo, but on a real story.”

Because, yes, the game of the year is actually the result of a simple technical demo for the Dualsense, the touch controller for the Playstation 5. Released with the console in 2020, the little game allowed you to play as a robot in a clever platform game. Much appreciated, Astro Bot was therefore entitled to its own story while retaining all the inventiveness linked to the sensitivity of the controller.

“We were really looking for something innovative,” the game director explained last June. “We had a demo in which you could hold a sponge and, using the adaptive trigger, squeeze the sponge and make water flow. It changes texture, weight and you can feel it in your hand. It inspired us to then give Astro a skill that becomes a big sponge, using the adaptive trigger, he can shoot this water at enemies to beat them.

The power of a future mascot?

In this game, Astro will therefore travel through deserts, forests, snow-capped mountains, Aztec ruins, the sky, the seabed, day and night, to find his companions in misfortune. He will battle against enemies of all kinds and sizes, take advantage of costumes to transform into a mouse and shrink, get help from a dog or chicken backpack to go higher or further, slow down time, etc.

Where Astro Bot hits hard, it is in its ability to seduce the youngest without losing the older ones too easily. The title is far from being the most complicated in the catalog, its strength is not there nor its weakness for that matter. It is the perfect game to put a first controller in the hands of a novice of all ages.

And with its little robot, Sony may have found the mascot it misses so much. Crash Bandicoot has never really managed to be Sony's “Mario” – and is no longer an exclusive for the Playstation – so the little robot may be holding the rope. Tonight's reward will probably give him the aura he needs.