NieR franchise creator Yoko Taro dropped a big revelation about his motivations for continuing to work and his thoughts on the future of Japan’s game industry. As Taro was asked if he had any current projects or plans to make a new game. He replied “nothing really,” and confessed that “I’m done with working. I don’t want to do it anymore.”
On top of this, Taro revealed that he already achieved his life goal before he even made critically-acclaimed titles like NieR Automata. Taro’s first game as director was 2003 PS2 title Drakengard (known as Drag-on Dragoon in Japan). “With Drakengard, the first game I was given the opportunity to direct, I was actually able to do almost everything the way I wanted,” he said, noting that he was able to release a game that “represented the best I could do at the time.”
“As a game otaku, I think the dream is to release something you’ve always wanted to create into the world. Having achieved that dream, I view everything after that as the remainder of my life,” he continued. Taro went on to reveal that he merely continued working because he’d be in trouble if he had no income.
Recently, he has considered retiring as he believes his savings and pension would be enough. However, he has a fear of developing dementia in old age, noting that he has heard of people being diagnosed with the disorder after retiring, and it is this fear that motivates him to keep working. So when he faces a difficult situation at work, he gets through it by telling himself: “This is good for preventing dementia.”
Taro made these revelations during a talk session with Ender Lilies and Ender Magnolia director Keisuke Okabe at The Tenth Mosaic video game culture festival held at the Tokyo French Institute last month. Of course, Taro is well-known for making eccentric and sometimes deadpan statements from under his ubiquitous Emil mask, so what he said should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt.
Regarding the future of the Japanese games industry, Taro quipped: “I’m going to die soon, so I really don’t care what happens to Japan’s game industry. However, I think that recently AI and various technologies have created a breeding ground where creators in their teens and 20s, who are even younger than Mr. Okabe, can freely create things.”
“I’m 56 now, but when people my age were young, we only had two options if we wanted to make a game: either ‘join a game company’ or ‘make a niche game for PC.’ If you wanted to make a 3D game you had no choice but to join a game company.” Taro said that the options for people who want to make games have broadened considerably since then, but this is inevitably leading to tougher competition.
“I think this competition will gradually spread like fire from the younger generations to the older generations of developers,” he commented. “As I’m already on the older side, I’m simply filled with fear and trepidation, hoping that these flames don’t reach me before I die.”
Regarding other titles and what motivates him to create games, Taro said “I don’t really get jealous of other games. When I come across something good, I end up viewing it from a fan’s perspective. This triggers my collector trait, and I just want to buy them all.”
“I’ve always worked in the games industry with the mindset of ‘filling in the gaps,’ he explained. “For example, I really like games like ICO and (Treasure’s bullet hell shooter) Ikaruga, but when I played them they were so perfect that I thought, ‘I don’t need to make games in these genres.’ That’s not jealousy, it’s the feeling of, ‘This gap has already been filled, so I need to fill a different one.’ I think the reason that my games are crude games full of terrible things is because the pioneers have already seized all the beautiful aspects.”
Since 2021’s Nier Reincarnation and the reboot of Nier Replicant, Taro has worked on the Voice of Cards RPG series and 2024 mobile title 404 GAME RE:SET. He is currently writing the upcoming as-yet untitled Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, with NieR and Drakengard composer Keiichi Okabe providing the music.
Of course, Nier fans are desperate for a proper follow-up, but so far nothing has been announced. In November last year, the developer said he’d been working on various projects, but they just keep getting canceled.
“I often get told stuff like, ‘Why aren’t you making a new sequel to NieR?’ or, ‘Yoko Taro isn’t doing anything,’ but that’s because recently, a lot of projects I was involved in got discontinued midway through development,” he said.
“I’ve actually been working on some stuff, it’s just that it never ended up seeing the light of day. I got paid for it, so I personally have no issues with that, but people seem to think that I haven’t been doing anything just because none of the work I’ve done is being released.”
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
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