How ‘Astro Bot’ Developer Packed in 150 Iconic PlayStation Character Cameos Without Creating ‘Friction or Productivity’ Issues Across Game Brands

variety.com:

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer When PlayStation‘s “Astro Bot” launches Friday, it will give PS5 owners access to a brand new, fully fleshed out story starring the little robot whose previous claim to fame was teaching gamers all the cool new features for the Sony gaming console launched in 2020 through pre-loaded title “Astro’s Playroom.” Four years later, Astro has broken out of his playroom and is on a bigger mission: Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Sony Interactive in an easy-entry platformer that features more than 150 cameos of beloved PlayStation characters from across mega hits and deep cuts, including “God of War,” “Ratchet & Clank,” “Ape Escape” and many more.

However, the original idea for the game from Team Asobi was simply to give Astro a bigger space adventure game with more to do, while sprinkling in a few PlayStation references and characters here and there.

But the enthusiasm for the game across Sony’s gaming IP brands led to so much more. “If you asked me the question two years ago about how many we’re going to be able to put in — well, my job is to look at all the problems, so I tend to be pessimistic — where we landed in the end with these 150-plus characters, it’s been really surprising,” Team Asobi studio director Nicolas Doucet told Variety. “Especially what surprised me, and I’m very, very happy with, is the amount of love and care that our partners have shown us, because it was their positive attitude towards the game that made it possible.

Ownership of IPs and things like that sometimes can be a subject of friction or productivity, and the fact that we’re able to use these characters and twist them, because a lot of the time we make fun of them, and everybody is just on board and asking.