The future of NieR lies at the hands of Yoko Taro

He attributed the unexpected success of the game to its unconventional narrative featuring a "gothic Lolita girl wielding a Japanese sword," originally anticipated to cater to a niche audience outside Japan.

The pair doubts that any future Nier game could repeat the cult following of Automata, which they attribute to having a well-balanced team. Saito adds that "it's not easy" to find a similar level of success. Taro echoed this statement, saying, "it's a lie that things will go well" even with the best team possible.

NieR: Automata became the breakout title for the series, surpassing global sales expectations. Initially released on PC and PS4, the game initially sold 1.5 million copies, with the majority of sales happening outside of Japan. Subsequently, it was released on the Xbox One and later ported to the Nintendo Switch.

Automata received stage plays and novels, expanding the game's universe. The game also received an animated adaptation produced by Square Enix and Aniplex. Taro co-wrote the script while Saito served as an executive producer. The 12-episode series Nier: Automata Ver 1.1a was released earlier this year on Crunchyroll. A second part of the anime was announced in July.

It will be exciting to see what Taro and Saito have in store for the series. The presentation offers hope to fans that a sequel may be released in the next few years. Until then, we will be replaying the game until we get all 26 endings.