NieR Automata Update Sheds Light on Release Date of Sequel
Don't expect a new NieR game anytime soon.
It's been almost seven years since the release of NieR Automata, which took the Drakengard series from niche to mainstream with its unexpected success. What's been surprising is that Square Enix and PlatinumGames have not built on this success other than by remastering its predecessor, NieR. This has been odd, that said there are plans for another new NieR game, it's just not happening anytime soon.
During the Korean video game event G-STAR 2023, Square Enix producer Yosuke Saito, who served as a producer on the aforementioned NieR: Automata, noted that he and Yoko Taro, the creative director of the series, will release a new entry in the series. However, it's not the game the pair are currently working on. They are working on a different, unannounced game that Saito teases they may reveal next year, 2024. What this game is, Saito is obviously not saying.
NieR series Producer Yosuke Saito said that while Yoko Taro is still alive they will release a new entry in the NieR series!
— Genki✨ (@Genki_JPN) November 19, 2023
But it won’t be soon as he & Yoko Taro are working on a project seperate from the NieR series that they hope to talk about next year! pic.twitter.com/yNb2dPph7D
It's obviously great news that a new NieR game will happen, eventually, but it sounds like it's many years off. If this new game is only going to be revealed next year then it, itself, could be a couple years away, which means there is a very strong possibility a new NieR game is not releasing until the 2030s. That's a long wait, especially considering the wait started back in 2017.
As for NieR Automata, if you haven't played it yet, you owe it to yourself to change that. With a 91 on Metacritic, it was one of the best games of its year, and for many, one of the biggest surprises of the previous console generation.
"NieR: Automata tells the story of androids 2B, 9S and A2 and their battle to reclaim the machine-driven dystopia overrun by powerful machines," reads an official blurb about the game. "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."