Yoko Taro makes games so people buy them, and suddenly Nier Automata makes more sense

Nier Automata director Yoko Taro
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Nier series producer Yoko Taro is back at it again with his striking interview comments, only this time explaining why he doesn't just make games for fun.

Taro has appeared at the South Korean convention G-Star 2023. As recapped by 4Gamer, Taro reportedly says that he doesn't just think it's a game director's job to make something that's fun, but also something that'll actually sell and bring in money.

Products need to have something more to them than just "fun," Taro continues. Games need to also have a certain level of love for their art, for example, or sound design, so that they'll entice potential customers to actually buy a game. People sure do love Nier Automata for all the aforementioned reasons.

Taro loves going off the deep end when speaking in public, and last week was no exception. He once famously said that both himself and Nier producer Yosuke Saito would get in the back of a truck and journey around Japan to sell copies of Nier: Replicant themselves if it needed a bit of a boost.

He's also been pretty candid with money, making comments to the effect of "Please give us your money." This is a man who makes every public appearance in a gigantic replica mask, so you can't always take him too seriously. He even once lost said mask during a night of drinking in America, right before a convention appearance the next day.

Speaking of Saito though, the producer also said during the South Korean convention that the Nier series would continue for as long as Taro is alive. When you think of the Nier series, it's admittedly pretty hard for Taro not to be one of the first things that comes to mind. Perhaps the two really are inseparable. 

Back in 2021, Taro said he was making a game he had no idea how to sell, which could put a dent in his pleas for money. 

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.