Astro Bot is the game of the year 2024. Now what?

It wouldn’t be December without The Gaming Awards, the annual Geoff Keighley Awards Show trailer And an occasional awards ceremony to celebrate the biggest games of the year. More than in previous years, this year’s nominees for Game of the Year were a diverse mix of big-name players such as Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Metaphor: rifantasio And a surprise, my loved ones Balatro and Black Legend Wukong. It turns out that the winner is…astro bot, PlayStation 5 exclusive from Team Asobi.

We’ve been winning the Games Awards for a decade now, and they kind of hold their own when it comes to GOTY picks: Previous games like witcher 3, God of war Reboot 2018, and Baldur’s Gate 3 Were these titles imaginative or mature, and Astro Bot It’s a family-oriented game about a cute, big-headed robot who explores worlds and makes friends with cute Funko-sized versions of PlayStation characters. It’s a very good match, but her win was definitely surprising, especially when Balatro He dominated the world for several months and metaphor He was also going his own way. Now that the dust has settled, the question on people’s minds is what it means for a platform game to win a major award at a major, mainstream media awards show.

The immediate next step will almost certainly be a sequel of some sort; The Asobi team is currently offering free post-launch levels astro bot, That sold out 1.5 million copies As of last November. There’s no doubt that Sony will let Asobi cook, and when the next game is revealed, I hope so Astro The series is taking its first step towards forging its own identity. both of them bot And its predecessor Astro games room (which came pre-installed on the launched PS5 consoles) were sightseeing tours of PlayStation’s past. It’s a lot of fun to see small and big-headed versions of childhood mascots, however Constant winking It can kind of wear on quickly, and highlights that the series doesn’t have much else beyond references and cool gameplay mechanics. An argument could be made that it doesn’t need anything more than that, but having a unique personality is what has helped other platformers endure. Of the Big Three publishers, Nintendo is the only one that has fully realized this, which is why Mario is able to maintain such overall consistency, even when the character (and Luigi) are playing platformers while jumping between dozens of other genres at any given moment. So, if Sony wants a Mario game of its own, it means finding out who Astro is outside of the blank slate wearing the look of its old series.

Speaking of franchises, one of the other big surprises at the Game Awards came from Capcom, which revealed that new games are being developed for Okami and Onyemosha Privileges. the Vampire The studio has had a good string of releases recently, and recently stated that the two projects are part of a larger effort to Activate series Previously shelved. You have to imagine Sony looking at that side by side Astro Bottoo — a lot of PlayStation franchises get some love in that game, and fans have been hoping for years that some of them will be dusted off. Many also expressed their hope collapse Concord side by side Astro The success was a wake-up call for Sony to focus on making smaller devices More diverse games Instead of putting their eggs in the triple cinematic basket. It has been a problem within the industry for years, Especially for PlayStation devices First party teamsFailure to recognize this problem sooner is the reason why they end up being laid off More than 1000 developers This year, many projects were cancelled.

It’s a shame that PlayStation’s dedication to producing blockbuster movies has eroded Double typebecause it’s where many old franchises would probably work best today. (See also: Ubisoft is very good Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown From earlier this year.) Lately, I’ve been rebooting Sly 2: Gang of Thieves After it was ported to the PS5, and played for the first time Resistance 2 Play via cloud streaming. Both seem well-suited to their individual era, and it’s easy to imagine that their respective series could have a place in the current PlayStation lineup if only they were allowed to. He is Without placing high expectations on them. malignant It could easily fill the niche of stylish, personality-packed games in the wake of last year hi fi rush, and resistance or Kill zone It could be a good shooter that’s exclusive to the system – last year, Sony tried to stop Microsoft from buying Activision Blizzard by arguing Call of duty It was very valuable, that Not another shooter We can hope for the highest of that. Ideally, neither would have to aim for such lofty heights, but rather serve as PlayStation’s answer to them aura, Who is about to undergo a second or third makeover, it will be appreciated. As it stands, any hopes of getting mid-sized non-Nintendo games with brand recognition now rest squarely on Astro’s small, delicate shoulders.

The Asobi team is not expected to use it Astro Bot To fix everything wrong with Triple A games overnight, it’s been unfortunate to come to the industry’s expense with several years of calculated risks not paying off as expected. Creating a healthier industry will take a long time, and sooner or later its influence will be felt, even if it’s in its own sequel or in a standalone game hoping to capture some of its wild, non-corporate spirit.

Or, failing that, PlayStation could back away from the remake and just remake it please Put more older first-party titles on PC or locally on PlayStation 5.

Want more io9 news? Check when to expect the latest marvel, star warsand Star Trek Releases, what’s next for DC Universe in film and televisionAnd everything you want to know about the future Doctor Who.