Yoko Taro Responds to Recent ‘NieR: Automata’ Praise, Says the Game’s “Japanese Nature” Wasn’t Entirely His Idea

NieR: Automata was, in more ways than one, a groundbreaking game. It remains an exceptionally popular and innovative title with a large fandom that is still very influential. And as fans are hoping for a new game, people are praising the original.

We’ve recently said that former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida praised NieR: Automata as the game thanks to which the “Japanese game industry was revived.” He praised Yoko Taro and the developers, as well as the game’s influence.

But, Yoko Taro recently decided to respond to that statement, claiming that the idea wasn’t exactly his.

In a recent interview, Ishida – as we reported – said: “I think [director] Yoko Taro made it without thinking about 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. Everyone realized that with Nier. I think the Japanese game industry was revived after Nier so much so that I would say it was before Nier and after Nier.”

Recently, though, Yoko Taro decided to respond on social media by explaining the situation:

なんか飛んできたので。オートマタを評価していただいているのは光栄ですが、「海外評価を気にせず日本向けに作れ」と命令したのは齊藤Ｐです。

もうちょっと正確に言うなら「ヨコオさんは海外向けにゲーム作るのは無理だから（せめて）日本向けに頑張ってくれ」的なことを言われたような記憶。 https://t.co/kOr2BwjFSs

— yokotaro (@yokotaro) March 29, 2025

This can be roughly translated as:

“I was just sent a message. I’m honored that Automata is being praised, but it was Producer Saito who gave the order to “make it for the Japanese market without worrying about overseas reviews.” To be more precise, I remember being told something like, “Yoko, you can’t make games for overseas, so please try your best to make one for Japan at least.”

To make it more interesting, Saito himself responded to the tweet by clearing it up even more:

そこまでは言ってないよw

俺たちは日本人なんだから、無理して海外の人たちに受けようなんて考えないでいいから…くらい。
その上で、（ヨコオさんというオンリーワンな）日本人が作る日本のゲームを好んでくれる人も世界中からかき集めれば100万人くらいはいるでしょ！たぶん…きっと…的な話。

— 齊藤陽介　Yosuke Saito (@SaitoYosuke_Z) March 29, 2025

This can be translated as:

“I didn’t say that much We’re Japanese, so we don’t need to try and force ourselves to be popular with people overseas… On top of that, if we gather people from all over the world who like Japanese games made by a Japanese person (Yoko-san, the one and only), there should be about 1 million of them! Maybe… surely… that’s what I’m saying.”

And while this does not change the fact that NieR: Automata helped, it seems that Yoko Taro does not want to take credit for something that wasn’t completely his idea, which is a very noble thing to do.

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