Yoko Taro: How Staying Hidden From Square Enix Made Nier: Automata a Hit

Ever wonder how Nier: Automata became such a beloved RPG? Director Yoko Taro has a surprising answer: he just did his own thing and tried to avoid Square Enix as much as possible.

In a 2018 interview with The Guardian, Yoko explained that for the original Nier in 2010, the team overthought things. They released two versions with different protagonists—a gruff older guy on Xbox 360 and a boyish lead on PS3. In the West, both used the older protagonist. That approach "didn't end in great sales," Yoko admitted, "so we stopped overthinking it."

Fast forward to 2017's Nier: Automata, and Yoko took a hands-off approach from his publisher. "For Nier: Automata, I wasn't told to target anyone," he said. "I just made what I wanted to, and I tried to stay hidden from Square Enix as much as possible." Clearly, that strategy paid off. The game became a breakout hit, selling over 10 million copies and earning a spot among the best RPGs ever made. It blended approachable action with Yoko's trademark esoteric storytelling, attracting fans far beyond the usual cult RPG crowd.

Yoko's humility is as famous as his Emil mask. "To be honest, I think I am making normal games targeted towards normal people," he said. "But ultimately when I release those normal games, weird people find them to be weird games and enjoy them. Which probably means there's something wrong with me." That self-deprecation might be part of his persona, but it's also just who he is.

He never set out to be a director; he simply spoke up often. He calls himself a "warped person" who's "insufferable at work," but maybe that's the price of making normal games for weird people. And weird people love him for it.

More recently, Yoko shared his sadness over PlayStation's move away from discs, saying he's "saddened by the loss of physical media" and despairs over "the future" of games. "That's just the way things are going," he added. It's a sentiment many collectors share.

So, what do you think? Does Yoko Taro's success prove that sometimes the best games come from ignoring the suits? Will you be picking up Nier: Automata again? Let us know in the comments!