It's been nearly nine years since the launch of NieR: Automata, the highly acclaimed action RPG developed by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix. Fans have long been waiting for news of a sequel. Today, as part of a celebration for the game's latest sales milestone (it has now sold 10 million units across all platforms), they at least got a teaser.
It sounds like the gears are finally moving. But why did it take so long? Well, it seems like Game Director Yoko Taro and Square Enix found it hard to reach an agreement. The outspoken creative first said that a NieR: Automata sequel would be something nobody would have thought about; a few months later, in March 2018, Taro shared the belief that his next projects would not be as successful, so his goal was to make as much money as he could.
In April 2018, he doubled down on his previous statement, calling on Square Enix to give him money if they wanted a NieR: Automata sequel:
If Square-Enix gives me money, I will create anything. So I think let Square-Enix know and I think if Square-Enix wants it, I'll do it.
However, nothing really came of it. Sure, Yoko Taro worked on the now-defunct gacha mobile Nier Reincarnation and the small-scale RPG Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, but beyond that, he was pretty quiet these last few years. A few months ago, he finally broke the silence to reveal that he had actually worked on several projects, but most of them never even got released. He was fine with it since he got paid, though. Perhaps now Square Enix and Yoko Taro have finally reached a financial agreement, though fans remain skeptical and wonder if the publisher is truly referring to the long-awaited NieR: Automata sequel.
By the way, the publisher also announced today that NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 has sold over 2 million units to date.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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