Astrobot: The Controversy in Cameos

Astrobot is an inoffensive, entertaining little platformer that has been entertaining fans and critics since it released last week. So the discussion around cameos might be a little surprising.

Like its predecessor, the free-on-PS5 Astrobot’s Playroom, Astrobot contains a whole load of cute cameos. PlayStation characters in all shapes and sizes return in their dozens. Unlike Playroom, which came out at the start of the generation, today’s cameos have had a less pleasant reaction.

The reason is fair enough. Today these Easter egg appearances mark franchises we know are dead and buried. The potential at the beginning of the generation has been imploded by studio closures, layoffs and franchises discontinued for spurious reasons.

Days Gone director John Garvin said he felt his character was being exploited to promote “some small game”.

Haha, I see my character reduced to a cartoon schill promoting some small game and I’m being harsh? Sit down, my brotha, adults are talking https://t.co/ZjthTV96qG

— John Garvin (@John_Garvin) September 7, 2024

And he’s not alone with the, let’s be polite, mixed feelings about these things. There is something bittersweet in a company selling you a game based on seeing characters they’ll never bring back. It’s hard to be too excited when many of the people who worked to bring those characters to life have lost their jobs.

The cameos aren’t the problem. People being excited about seeing characters like Kat while simultaneously not paying for a Gravity Rush game is pretty much on brand for the industry at this point. And for entertainment in general. At this point in time, cameos trump quality.

It’s about marketability. You know what people love more than new and exciting stories? Old stories repeated ad nauseum. Take out the cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine and you have all of two minutes of plot. And I’m not just talking about famous actors returning. The appearance of the characters themselves fall into the same rough mix.

Beyond the Astrobot Cameos

When Captain America turned up on TV screens within Phase 3 of the MCU, it wasn’t Chris Evans that people were happy to see. This was a character cameo, a reward for understanding the universe larger than the film you’re watching.

And if I’ve spoke about Marvel a lot in these examples, it is for an obvious reason. Marvelisation is a word for a reason. They’re not alone in all of this.

And if Astrobot had relied on the cameos alone to sell their game, I’d have probably been right there with people who are sceptical of the whole thing. By all accounts, it stands on its own as a more-than-decent platformer. The cameos, then, are done with love, to continue celebrating everything that came before. It is marketing – what isn’t? – but it doesn’t necessarily have to be negative.

The problem isn’t the cameos, but the industry at large. Publishers aren’t making the kinds of games people want to play, instead chasing after audiences that aren’t interested in single player epics. Astrobot – a charming adventure that can stand alone – doesn’t need cameos, but has them as a nostalgic reminder of better days.

Games are too expensive to make. They take too long to cater to specific audiences. Especially when the kind of person who would kill for Gravity Rush 3 or Days Gone 2 is likely to be buying Spider-Man on day one anyway.

Getting angry about cute robots dressed as Kratos is an unusual but understandable symptom of an industry on the edge.