PowerWash Simulator, the surprise hit of 2022, recently released its Midgar Special Pack. Square Enix announced the collaboration at the end of January and promised prospective powerwashers the opportunity to clean Cloud's Hardy-Daytona, the Shinra Hauler SA-37, the terrifying Scorpion Sentinel, the Airbuster guard robot, and the Mko Energy Exhibit from Final Fantasy 7 Remake. You would also get the chance to clean the inside of Tifa's Seventh Heaven bar, which has gotten quite filthy with all the eco-terrorism being planned there.
What players didn't know until the free DLC was released is that the expansion would also include in-universe text messages from the likes of Cloud, Tifa, Reeve, and Heidegger that place your cleaning sessions in Final Fantasy 7 Remake's timeline. And since all those text messages were approved and co-written with Square Enix, they're all official Final Fantasy 7 canon.
"Everything from the original job concepts, to the models and the story was run past and approved by the team in Japan," said PowerWash lead designer Dan Chequer in an interview with Touch Arcade. "Tying the story and cleaning jobs into the original timeline was also a great challenge. We hope players feel we did the crossover justice!"
Final Fantasy 7 Remake game director Tetsuya Nomura is said to have written some of the text messages himself. In a statement, Nomura said that he was "especially excited" for the PowerWash Simulator collaboration, saying he'd been "daydreaming about cleaning things from my titles."
Nomura added: "My immediate response was, 'let’s wash the entire Shinra building.' Unfortunately, that seemed to be a bit difficult, but the final line-up is exciting, nonetheless."
And, as noted by GamesRadar, the player even intercepts text messages sent between Cloud and Tifa that have fans speculating on a budding romance. We’ll have to see if that ties into Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth when it eventually arrives sometime next winter.