Producer Leaves the Door Open For Another NieR Game

During a PAX East panel, NieR: Automata's Creative Director Yoko Taro, Producer Yosuke Saito, and Composer Keiichi Okabe took the time to field and respond to audience questions. And naturally NieR: Automata came up, a lot.

While chock-full of interesting tidbits and classic Yoko Taro charm, the panel didn't leak out a great deal of substantial information. However, it did provide a glimmer of hope for NieR fans hoping a return to the series will come in the future.

More specifically, during the panel Saito spoke about the possibility of returning to the series, leaving the door wide open for a return, which as you can guess, was greeted by a roar from a room full of fans (after the a translator translated Saito's response).

"I do think that we might be able to open another door in the NieR universe, I don't know how long it might take but I do want you guys to look forward to that." pic.twitter.com/uwyABtUniS

— Wario64 (@Wario64) April 7, 2018

Elsewhere during the panel, Yoko Taro talked about a direct sequel to NieR: Automata, where he admitted he isn't very fond of the idea of creating sequels. Further, the director explained that he feels NieR: Automata was a complete game that doesn't necessarily need a direct follow-up.

Jokingly, Yoko Taro replied to a question about whether he would like to create a game that tells the story of how machines triumphed over humanity, by saying he would, but only if it's a vertical shooter. A clear joke, but something that I actually wouldn't' seeing.

NieR: Automata is available for PS4 and PC, where it launched last year. For those that don't know: it is the sequel to 2010's NieR, which itself was a spin-off of the Drakengard series. Automata notably took the series from hardcore niche to the nucleus of the industry's mind share in 2017, and has shipped an impressive 2.5 million copies to date.

Below, you can read a brief elevator pitch of the game, courtesy of its publisher Square Enix and developer PlatinumGames:

NieR: Automata tells the story of androids 2B, 9S and A2 and their battle to reclaim the machine-driven dystopia overrun by powerful machines.

Humanity has been driven from the Earth by mechanical beings from another world. In a final effort to take back the planet, the human resistance sends a force of android soldiers to destroy the invaders. Now, a war between machines and androids rages on... A war that could soon unveil a long-forgotten truth of the world.