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Former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida has praised Nier: Automata, and said its impact is so large, you can see a clear difference in the games industry "before Nier and after Nier."
Speaking to AV Watch, the ex-executive broke down his decades-long run at the publisher and dived into a time in the games industry where Japanese creators were chasing global trends to no avail. Yoshida explains that as blockbuster games abroad began to ape Hollywood and became more realistic - think of your GTAs, Gears of Wars, and The Last of Us' from the PS3/360 era - some Japanese developers also started making games to appeal to "slightly foreign tastes."
That was until Nier: Automata came out in 2017 and slowly became a huge hit. The existential slasher has now sold over nine million copies, and its main gal 2B is as recognizable as an action hero can be after having crossed over into countless other games and boosting Square Enix's most recent merch sales years post-release. Dare I say she might even be more popular than Squeenix's most enduring icon, the Dragon Quest slimes.
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"I think [director] Yoko Taro made it without thinking about whether or not it would sell overseas," said Yoshida, in quotes translated by Genki. "From there it became clear that Japanese creators were making 'Japanese things' and those things were selling overseas. Everyone realized that with Nier." Yoshida then saw a shift in Japanese developers who felt free to stop imitating global trends.
"I think the Japanese game industry was revived after Nier so much so that I would say it was before Nier and after Nier," he continued.
Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.
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