Days Gone director criticises 'sad' Astro Bot 'cartoon shill' cameo

I am sure many of us spent our weekends diving into Sony’s new Astro Bot release.

However, it seems as though the director for Days Gone was not one of them after taking to Twitter to express his disappointment at one of Astro Bot’s many PlayStation cameos.

Check out the launch trailer for Astro Bot below!

Released on 6 September as the sequel to Astro’s Playroom, Astro Bot is already shaping up to be Game of the Year, according to fans and critics alike.

Described as a “love letter to PlayStation”, the platformer is being praised for its incredibly fun gameplay as well as its nod to some other much-loved PlayStation titles.

Appearing in “bot” form, Astro Bot features some of our favourite PS characters such as Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us, Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn and more.

However, one such cameo has caused quite a bit of upset for Days Gone director John Garvin.

In a series of posts on Twitter, Garvin expresses his sadness over Days Gone protagonist Deacon St. John being used in Astro Bot.

In his opinion, he did not want Deacon being used to promote “some small game” and wants to protect the game’s legacy instead of turning Deacon in “to a cartoon shill”.

However, we may know exactly why Garvin is unhappy considering he was one of the Bend Studio developers who pitched Sony on a Days Gone sequel. Once the idea was turned down, Garvin departed from Bend Studio.

It seems as though Garvin is one of the few at Bend Studio, past or present, who is unhappy with Deacon’s cameo in Astro Bot.

According to Kevin McAllister, community manager at Bend, the team feels “incredibly honoured” to be featured in the brand-new Sony title.

"Astro Bot is a masterpiece,” he wrote.

"Such a well-designed, creative, and polished experience that brings me so much joy. Thank you again Team Asobi for including Days Gone into your wonderful game. Our team is incredibly honoured. Please go play it and say hi to Deacon for me."