When Yoko Taro pitched his idea for Nier: Automata, he already figured it was a long shot. With the original Nier being a niche title at best and not doing well, he approached Square Enix to green light his next game. Many years pass and won’t you know it? When Nier: Automata was released, it took the world by storm. The action (thanks to Platinum Games) was amazing, the story and branching segments were interesting and suddenly Taro was sitting somewhere, smiling. Now we’re hearing that the total worldwide shipments and digital sales for the title have exceeded four million units?
Yeah, I’m sure Yoko Taro is definitely pleased as punch about the news.
Originally released for the PlayStation 4 (February 23, 2017), Nier: Automata was constantly in play on my console. I even imported it so I could check it out early. Then picked up the North American (March 7, 2018) release to support the title. Eventually, the title made its way to the PC (March 17, 2018) where I once again dropped some cash to acquire the game. At this point, the game was gaining a huge fan base. A fan base that also demanded a port of the title to the Xbox One, and it happened. On June 26, 2018, Square Enix released the NieR: Automata BECOME AS GODS Edition for the Xbox One. Which included all the previous content from the PS4 and PC versions. I didn’t even think the game would sell as well as it did for the Xbox One. To which I was pleased to see that I was completely wrong about the situation.
Finally, a new version was released for the PS4 and PC, called Nier: Automata Game of the YoRHa Edition. Which was pretty much what the Xbox One received, just with a different name and some extra goodies in the form of avatars, wallpapers and a dynamic skin for the PS4.
For a game that many didn’t think would do well, it has certainly made the rounds and has developed quite the following. Not only has it exceeded expectations, but we’ve also heard not too long ago that Square Enix and Yoko Taro were already in the planning stages for a follow-up. Here’s too hoping that for the next venture that Square Enix sets aside a bigger budget so Taro can do everything he wanted to do this time around.
But for now, congrats are in order for Yoko Taro for delivering us this fantastic vision, for Square Enix for giving him the chance and Platinum Games for helping make this one hell of a game. I can’t wait for the sequel!
