Square Enix's trust in Powerwash Simulator studio paved the way for crossover DLC

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox

Brighton-based studio FuturLab has said Square Enix opening up its IP for Powerwash Simulator has been key to the game's ongoing success.

Speaking on stage at last week's GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit in London, co-CEO Kirsty Rigden discussed the partnership between her studio and Square Enix Collective, the game's publisher.

In particular, she was keen to highlight how open Square Enix Collective was to collaborating on content based around Square Enix-owned franchises.

"What I'll always be appreciative of Square for is believing in our post-launch content plan," she told attendees. "We had high hopes for doing lots of different types of crossovers because the beauty of Powerwash is the star of the show is the thing you're washing – and you can basically wash anything.

"We really wanted to work with big IP and brands to create content for Powerwash and it was Square… We mentioned Final Fantasy as a joke, but you were able to secure us the Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy licenses for us to be able to create our first DLC packs."

Rigden also clarified that work on the Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy packs began "before we really knew the success of Powerwash." Since launch, the game has also featured an add-ons based on SpongeBob SquarePants, Warhammer and more in the works.

"[Square Enix Collective] believed in it right from the beginning," said Rigden. "If it hadn't been for [them] getting us these IP, I'm not sure we would have been able to secure SpongeBob, we've got a Warhammer pack coming out and a lot more we haven't announced yet.

"It's wild to me that we're now at the point where we're turning down potential partnerships with people that I never thought we could dream of getting.

"I really do think it was the fact we could get those licences early on that showed other IP holders that it was plausible, and it was a really exciting opportunity to allow players to interact with their franchise in a different and meaningful way."

Tímea Edvi, director of indie publishing at Square Enix Collective and Rigden's co-host for this session, discussed the extent of the internal collaborations on the first two packs, which even involved working directly with studios such as Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics.

"Everyone really enjoyed working with you and the freedom of putting those objects and worlds into Powerwash," she told Rigden. "And as you say, the sky's the limit because you can wash anything. There's a great opportunity there."

Edvi added that this initial partnership has "helped this brand grow to what it is today" with over seven million people playing Powerwash Simulator to date.