Were you wondering why Cloud wasn't in Astro Bot? Team Asobi's studio head has explained, kind of, why in a recent conversation with Game File.
Cloud Wasn't in Astro Bot Out of Respect for Square Enix
Lots of Characters Team Asobi Wanted in Astro Bot Made It Though
Astro Bot developer Team Asobi said while almost all of the Sony characters they wanted in the game made it in, certain Square Enix characters, like Final Fantasy hero Cloud, weren't able to make their appearances as "respect" to the "choice of each publisher." Though, Team Asobi added that the studio found it "difficult to comment" on the non-appearance of fan-favorite characters from Square Enix's games.
Speaking to journalist Stephen Totilo in a recent interview with Game File, Team Asobi studio head Nicolas Doucet shared that when they decided that around 150 of the collectible robots in Astro Bot will be based on legendary characters from different game titles throughout PlayStation's history, the studio started to make a list of their 'wishlist characters.' However, not all of those characters received the green light to appear in Astro Bot.
Team Asobi wishlisted characters from PlayStation's third-party games as well, such as Konami-published Metal Gear Solid, Capcom’s Resident Evil, and more. "I was thinking, ‘Well, maybe half of the ones we're wishing for will make it," Doucet said. "In the end, in fact, almost 100% are in, because these partners just raised their hand and said, ‘Absolutely.'"
While most of PlayStation’s partners and publishers accommodated the Astro Bot devs’ request to include certain characters in the game, some such as those from Square Enix were noticeably absent. When asked why Cloud wasn't in Astro Bot—especially considering the hype around PlayStation's exclusive releases of the FF7 Remake project, as well as the FF series’ significance for the Sony platform—Doucet said it was out of "respect[s] the choice of each publisher," "It's difficult to comment on [why Square Enix didn't approve any cameos]," he further explained. "We really respect the choice of each publisher."
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