Astro's Playroom studio is expanding for its biggest game yet

gamesradar.com:

The next game from Astro’s Playroom developer will be its “biggest to date.”

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in a new interview this week, Team Asobi creative director Nicholas Doucet revealed the studio’s next title is already in production. Doucet firstly confirmed the developer has a brand new game in production, and merely commented that it’s “going fine.”

Doucet elaborated slightly on the scope of the game. The developer revealed the new game will be the studio’s “biggest to date,” and will actually ship as a fully-priced commercial release, unlike 2020’s Astro’s Playroom, which came as a pack-in title for everyone purchasing a new PS5 console.

We don’t know anything more about this new project from Team Asobi, but it’ll likely continue to utilize the PS5’s DualSense controller. Doucet reveals that the team considers the DualSense’s adaptive triggers and haptic feedback a “secret weapon” in development, and they’re continuing to iterate on the controller.

This is finally confirmation of a new title in development at the studio since a job listing outed a new project in July 2021. At the time, a job listing revealed Team Asobi was working on a new 3D action platformer, which admittedly sounds in a similar vein to Astro’s Playroom itself. 

To match the new scope of their biggest ever game, Team Asobi has staffed up considerably since Astro’s Playroom launched. The studio had around 35 employees in late 2020 when Astro’s Playroom launched, and has since expanded to 60 developers. Doucet wouldn’t be surprised if that number increases to 100, and said that if the studio was to double in headcount, they’d find work for everybody. 

Head over to our upcoming PS5 games guide for a complete look at everything on the slate for