Team Asobi didn’t just make a charming platformer with Astro Bot, but one full of nods and references to other games that were released on PlayStation platforms that made the experience richer and more memorable as well. While the game did feature an assortment of cameos, there were a few noticeable absences as well, and there are ones that might have caught some players by surprise.

Chief among the missing collabs? We didn’t see Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7 in the game. Sure, Final Fantasy 7 is from a third-party studio, but FF7’s fate is so entwined with the PlayStation console that no references to it from the game was a bit surprising. Well, as it turns out, Team Asobi wanted Cloud in the game, but it’s Square Enix who nixed the deal. This was revealed by Team Asobi chief Nicolas Doucet in a new interview where the developer also shared the collaboration development process.

According to Doucet, they approached Square Enix about it, but it wasn’t able to get it approved. “It’s difficult to comment on that,” Doucet notes, and added, “We really respect the choice of each publisher.”

For those not old enough to remember, Final Fantasy 7 was the first game in the franchise to be released on a PlayStation platform, and this was after Square Enix decided to develop the game on the original PlayStation (PS1) instead of the Nintendo 64, with the PS1’s CD format cited as the main reason for Square to jump ship. This was noteworthy, as before FF7’s release on the PS1, Nintendo was the go-to platform for anything Final Fantasy, and the franchise’s jump from Nintendo to Sony signaled an end of an era, and essentially won the console wars then.

Another character the studio wanted to put into the game is Twisted Metal’s Sweet Tooth, but they got advice from the developers who worked on the series that perhaps including a clown-themed serial killer in the game wouldn’t be a good fit. Doucet states, “They advised us—they didn’t force us—and we agreed that it was better to leave this character out. Because, if you’re playing with your kids, we don’t want you to have to explain what this character does.”

When it comes to who made it into Astro Bot, it’s a mix of popular characters and some relatively unknown ones. From God of War’s Kratos, to someone as obscure as the original PlayStation “mascot” Polygon Man. How did Team Asobi decide on who’s making the cut or not? Doucet explains the collaboration choices stating, “They need to be games that have left people with a positive impression and genuine nostalgia”

The wait for Astro Bot’s next collab won’t be a long one, as Team Asobi revealed that free DLC is on the way this Fall 2024 as a title update, and it confirms that Helldivers 2 will be part of the deployment.