Astro's Playroom easter eggs paid homage to games some developers helped make

A number of Astro's Playroom animators worked on the original games that they created homages to in the PS5 launch game.

Earlier today, a new PlayStation Blog post was published by Jamie Smith, lead animator at Astro's Playroom developer Team Asobi. Over the course of the post, Smith reveals that a slate of homages found within Astro's Playroom were animated by developers who worked on the original games that they were paying tribute to in 2020.

It's a fascinating little anecdote from Smith. Unfortunately, he doesn't actually specify which developers worked on the original games that resurfaced in Astro's Playroom through these homages. There are so many references in Astro's Playroom, including the likes of Metal Gear Solid, Devil May Cry, Dino Crisis, and Resident Evil, so it's impossible to guess which classic games might've also been worked on by current Team Asobi staff.

It's definitely worth reading the full blog post from Smith if you're eager to learn how the development staff selected which games to pay homage to. There's a bunch of interesting details within the post, including sketches from the incredibly-talented Team Asobi concept artist Toshihiko Nakai, imagining how each homage could theoretically work before it was fleshed out through animators.

More recently though, it seems like Team Asobi is gearing up for another 3D action game. A job listing in July sought out a level designer to work on a new 3D action game, which sure could be a hint at a new Astro game, following on from Astro Bot: Rescue Mission and Astro's Playroom. Here's hoping this is the case, because Astro's Playroom was pure magic on the PS5.

If you're yet to play Team Asobi's excellent platformer, head over to our PS5 deals guide for a complete tracker on current and projected stock of the new-gen console.