Ex-PlayStation Exec Says NieR: Automata Revived the Japanese Games Industry, Convinced It To Stop Chasing Overseas Trend

NieR:Automata brought a lot of attention to the series and its creators, but it may have also had some greater ramifications for the industry. In a new interview, former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida said he thinks NieR: Automata “revived” the Japanese game industry.

In an interview with AVWatch (as translated by Genki_JPN), Yoshida said the Japanese games industry was struggling after chasing overseas trends in the PlayStation 3 era. He said he thought director Yoko Taro made NieR: Automata without thinking whether or not it would sell overseas.

“From there, it became clear that Japanese creators were making ‘Japanese things’ and those things were selling overseas,” Yoshida said. “Everyone realized that with NieR.”

“It was just a matter of saying ‘it’s okay to do it like that,’ but ‘we have to do it like that,'” Yoshida continued. “So the direction of Japanese creators became ‘let’s stop imitating overseas countries anymore,’ ‘if we create things with our own culture and that we understand, they will understand it overseas.'”

“I think the Japanese game industry was revived after NieR so much so that I would say it was before NieR and after NieR,” Yoshida said. “To put it simply, I think NieR: Automata was the title that made people realize ‘let’s make something Japanese.'”

NieR: Automata has been, by all accounts, a success for publisher Square Enix and the creative team behind the game, including Yoko Taro. It’s spawned an anime adaptation and a flurry of cameos for popular protagonist 2B, in everything from Fall Guys to Soulcalibur.

The future of the series seems a bit unclear, as of this writing. While the mobile game NieR: Reincarnation may well have been the NieR 3 fans were waiting for, it was also shut down last April. The creative team has worked on a handful of other projects too, like the card-driven RPG Voice of Cards, but NieR fans are still waiting for the next premium game.

Regardless, Yoshida saw a shifting of the tides with NieR: Automata. Given how popular the game is today, I’m inclined to agree. Hopefully we see more from NieR soon, but now, as we’re roughly eight years removed from its original 2017 launch date, it’s a nice recognition of Automata’s already-tangible legacy.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.