Arc System Works had temporarily lost the license to the Guilty Gear series to the game company Sammy. According to an interview with Daisuke Ishiwatari, it was confirmed that this only affected Guilty Gear XX's characters; They could make a new instalment using only core characters from the first two games. This also explains the existence of Guilty Gear 2: Overture, which only retains Sol Badguy and Ky Kiske, who were playable in the original game.