Developer Team Asobi didn’t expect its critically acclaimed 3D platformer, Astro Bot, would go on to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024.
During an interview with Famitsu, Astro Bot Director Nicolas Doucet, Lead Sound Designer Junko Sano, Lead Game Designer Hiroaki Yatoku, Lead Art Designer Toshihiko Nakai, Animator Kohei Kawa, and Gameplay Programmer Hideo Fujinawa were asked to share how they felt when the 3D platformer was announced as the Game of the Year winner at The Game Awards 2024.
Doucet said that it was only after Astro Bot had won Best Game Direction that he thought he may end up giving the Game of the Year speech. Therefore, he began thinking about it while taking notes on his smartphone when the camera wasn’t facing him. Still, he couldn’t believe it when Astro Bot was announced as the Game of the Year winner. He instantly recalled the faces of Team ASOBI members, and wondered how they were reacting. He was so shocked to see his game win that he didn’t remember much about the final moments of the awards ceremony or his speech.
Meanwhile, Sano expressed her happiness about Astro Bot winning the top award at The Game Awards 2024. She said that she didn’t think about awards during production, and only thought about incorporating the joys of gaming into the game. Though, its positive reception made her feel like she was given a reward she never expected. Additionally, as someone who had been involved in the Japanese game industry for a long time, it was also very moving for her to see many Japanese games being nominated.
Yatoku was also very happy to see Astro Bot win Game of the Year. What made an impression on him was seeing everyone on the development team becoming overjoyed over the game winning. The team members who stayed behind in Japan gathered at the company and watched the awards ceremony live stream, and they were extremely happy when Astro Bot received the top accolade. He watched the video of the aforementioned moment over and over again, and it made him even happier than when the game won the award.
Much like Sano, Yatoku also didn’t think about awards while working on Astro Bot. The team had an opportunity to get together once every two weeks to play the game, and what he thought at the time was that he wanted everyone to play what he was making and enjoy it. He felt that it was because of this that players are happy with Astro Bot.
