Team Asobi
Sony's first-party UK studio behind Astro Bot, a platformer showcasing DualSense hardware.
On the record
Checkpoint: Reveal of Team Asobi's next unannounced title, expected at a State of Play or Game Awards
The call
Team Asobi sits inside Sony with a proven hit and no visible predator, its future rides on whether the next unannounced game repeats that success.
Team Asobi is a video game studio owned by Sony that makes colorful action games featuring a robot character named Astro. Their 2024 game Astro Bot won major awards and sold over 2 million copies, which is impressive for a small team. Nintendo makes similar games with Mario and Donkey Kong, but Team Asobi has an advantage because Sony owns the PlayStation hardware and can build games that use its special controller features in ways other studios cannot easily copy. The real test comes with their next game: if it succeeds like Astro Bot did, the studio will be set for years; if it flops, Sony might lose confidence and shift resources elsewhere.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. AI game tools could speed animation and level design work but nothing points at replacing hand-crafted platformer design here. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: Nintendo. Nintendo's Mario and Kirby franchises dominate platformers with decades of characters and sales, but Astro Bot carved its own space rather than losing to them. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.
03
What protects it. Owned by Sony as a first-party studio, small team size, PS5 hardware showcase role, and a Game of the Year winning character nobody else can use.
What would change this call
Team Asobi reveals its next title at a State of Play or Game Awards show. Shows Sony still backs the studio for a new full-scale project.
Next Team Asobi game sells above or below 1 million units in its first year. Tests whether Astro Bot's success repeats or was a one-off.
Director Nicolas Doucet stays with or leaves Team Asobi. Signals stability or disruption of the studio's creative leadership.
Next Team Asobi game sells above or below 1 million units in its first year. Tests whether Astro Bot's success repeats or was a one-off.
Director Nicolas Doucet stays with or leaves Team Asobi. Signals stability or disruption of the studio's creative leadership.
Key numbers
- Astro Bot sold 2.3M+ copies
- 37% of buyers were new to PlayStation exclusives
- Built by about 60-65 people
Named risks
- Next unannounced title could underperform (<1M units) or receive weak reviews, narrowing Sony's tolerance.
- Broader Sony pattern of studio closures and writedowns (Bungie, Bluepoint, Dark Outlaw) could extend to profitable single-player studios.
- Departure of director Nicolas Doucet, the creative anchor since 2012, would disrupt studio identity.
- AI-assisted asset/animation workflows could pressure smaller studio headcount needs industry-wide over time.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo | contesting | Critics compared Astro Bot to Mario Galaxy/Odyssey as genre benchmark, Sept 2024, no hardware overlap |
| Bungie (sister Sony studio) | gaining on | Bungie took $765M writedown and 292+ cuts June 2026 while Team Asobi kept hiring |
| Bluepoint Games (sister Sony studio) | gaining on | Sony closed Bluepoint Feb 2026 while Team Asobi expanded hiring |
| Indie platformer studios (Evening Star, Gears for Breakfast) | contesting | Named as genre peers by Hardcore Gamer, Sept 2024, but far smaller scale |
Questions people ask
- Is Team Asobi profitable or at risk of layoffs like other Sony studios?
- Team Asobi has reported no layoffs or downsizing as of mid-2026, unlike sister PlayStation studios. Sony cut 900 jobs and closed London Studio in Feb 2024, and took a $765M Bungie writedown with 292+ job cuts in June 2026, but Team Asobi kept hiring through Feb-May 2026.
- Who owns Team Asobi, the studio behind Astro Bot?
- Team Asobi is a wholly-owned first-party development studio of Sony Interactive Entertainment's PlayStation Studios division, based in Tokyo, Japan. It was spun off from the winding-down Japan Studio into a standalone PlayStation Studios entity on June 2, 2021.
- Could AI replace a studio like Team Asobi?
- Unlikely soon. Team Asobi's value depends on privileged access to Sony's DualSense hardware engineering, owned Astro Bot IP, and hand-crafted game-feel design under director Nicolas Doucet's 'quality, not quantity' philosophy, as stated March 21, 2025, none of which generative AI tools replicate.
- Is Nintendo Team Asobi's biggest competitor?
- Nintendo's Mario, Kirby and Donkey Kong platformers are the genre benchmark critics compare Astro Bot against, per PCMag and Polygon reviews from September 2024, but Nintendo cannot publish on PlayStation, so the two never compete for the same hardware sales.
- How well did Astro Bot sell for Team Asobi?
- Sony confirmed Astro Bot sold 1.5 million copies as of November 3, 2024, and it won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024 (Dec 13, 2024) and five categories at BAFTA 2025 (April 15, 2025), including Best Game.
- What is Team Asobi working on next after Astro Bot?
- As of February to May 2026, Team Asobi posted job listings for 3D Environment Artist, Gameplay Programmer, and Animator roles, confirming pre-production has begun on an unannounced next project, with no title or reveal date confirmed yet.
Timeline
- 2026-06-26Team Asobi partners with Bandai Spirits on CHOGOKIN Astro Bot collectible toy line
- 2026-03-02Team Asobi posts job listings signaling production start on next unannounced game
- 2025-10-22Director Doucet says Team Asobi stays PS5-exclusive despite industry shift to PC ports
- 2025-04-15Astro Bot wins five categories including Best Game at BAFTA 2025
- 2025-03-21Analytics firm estimates Astro Bot crosses 2.3 million copies sold
- 2024-12-13Astro Bot wins Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024
- 2024-11-07Sony confirms Astro Bot has sold 1.5 million copies
- 2024-09-06Astro Bot releases for PS5 for PlayStation's 30th anniversary
- 2024-02-01Sony closes London Studio, cuts 900 SIE/PlayStation Studios jobs
- 2021-06-02Team Asobi officially announced as standalone PlayStation Studios entity
Revision history
23 July 2026
First assessed. Hard to displace. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Introducing Team Asobi, creators of the Astro Bot series (2021-06-02)
- Astro Bot has sold 1.5 million copies, Sony confirms (2024-11-07)
- Astro Bot has now sold more than 2.3 million copies (2025-03-21)
- Astro Bot (2025-07-09)
- Astro Bot Wins Game of the Year at 2024 Game Awards (2024-12-13)
- Astro Bot's Nicolas Doucet On Japan Studio, Final Fantasy, And The Future Of PlayStation (2025-04-15)
- Team Asobi (2026-07-13)
- Astro Bot Creators Are Hiring for Their Next Project (2026-03-02)
- Astro Bot studio chief says Team Asobi stays dedicated to taking advantage of the PS5's strengths (2025-10-22)
- Interview with Nicolas Doucet (2026-06-26)
- Bungie Cuts 292 Jobs, Studio Head Out Amid Sony Struggles (2026-06-27)
- PlayStation Studios (2026-07-19)