Astro Bot winning Game of The Year was not on Team Asobi’s Christmas list

Astro Bot bagging Game of The Year was certainly a surprise, more so for Team Asobi and the creative director behind the game, Nicolas Doucet. In an interview, Doucet revealed he was waiting on the Family Game award and had doubts about GOTY, especially with so many incredible games on the nominee list.

Speaking to Famitsu, Doucet said, “I was very happy that many aspects of ‘Astro Bot’ were widely seen. In particular, I was very concerned about whether it would be evaluated as a family game.” Talking about the Game of the Year announcement, he said he wasn’t sure if the game would win the award.

Astro Bot was mainly created as a family-oriented game, which is quite apparent in its style. Instead of just cramping features to show off the capabilities of a PS5, the game does a great job of using these things as game mechanics in a fun way.

Along with the GOTY, Astro Bot also won three more awards, these include Best Game Direction, Best Action/Adventure Game and what the studio was hoping for, Best Family Game. It was also the game which bagged the most number of awards.

Also Read:The Game Awards 2024 award count: Who won the most awards?

Best Game Direction award gave Astro Bot confidence

While the initial confidence was low, Doucet revealed that after the game won the Best Game Direction, he began to feel confident as GOTY and Game Direction usually go hand in hand. With what little hope that brought, he began taking notes for the speech while the camera was facing away.

That turned out to be a good decision, as Astro Bot also secured ‘Game of The Year’. “I later heard this from my wife, who was watching my speech, and she said, ‘It was the first time I've ever seen Nico cry’, that's how much I couldn't control my emotions during the speech,” Doucet added.