Yoko Taro revealed how he hid from Square Enix management during the development of Nier: Automata

Nier: Automata director Yoko Taro has offered new insight into how the series’ biggest success came together, saying the turning point was intentionally limiting publisher influence on the project.

The background stretches back to 2010, when the first Nier suffered from questionable marketing decisions — most notably creating two different protagonists for the Japanese and Western releases in an attempt to appeal to different audiences. That game missed financial targets, and the team took a different tack when work began on the sequel in 2017.

In an interview with The Guardian, Yoko said the development team largely abandoned marketing-driven compromises for Nier: Automata and focused on making the game they wanted.

“When creating Nier: Automata, I was not tasked with targeting any specific demographic group,” explains Yoko Taro. “I just did what I wanted and tried to hide from Square Enix as much as possible.”

That creative freedom paid off: Nier: Automata has sold more than 10 million copies and is widely regarded as one of the best action RPGs ever made. The title paired accessible action gameplay with Yoko Taro’s trademark mysterious and philosophical storytelling, attracting fans well beyond the core circle of Japanese RPG enthusiasts.

Yoko Taro remains characteristically self-deprecating about the series’ popularity. He says he believes he’s simply making ordinary games for ordinary players, yet they tend to be discovered by “weird gamers,” a mismatch he jokingly takes as evidence that something is wrong with him.