NieR: Automata creator Yoko Taro and Bayonetta director Hideki Kamiya recently participated in a discussion panel hosted at Korean video game convention G-CON 2025. As reported by 4Gamer, the two creators gathered to share their views on game design philosophy and give insight into their creative process.
When asked to give updates on their latest projects, Kamiya mentioned that studio Clovers has been working steadily on the upcoming sequel to Ōkami, while also expanding the scale of its development team. On the other hand, Yoko Taro’s recent affairs have been a mystery, so much so that “Yoko Taro doesn’t do any work” has become somewhat of a recurring inside joke among fans. Speaking to the Korean audience, Yoko explained that he has actually been quite busy with new projects these days – it’s just that most of his recent projects ended up cancelled midway, due to circumstances he does not specify.
“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. 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,” Yoko elaborated.
But despite much of his recent projects not seeing completion, Yoko has decided to stay optimistic with his approach, suggesting that he’d rather fail several times on his way to creating something that’s actually good than putting out multiple lackluster works. “I don’t view that as a negative thing”, he said. “I believe that if I’m going to release something weird, I’d be better off not releasing anything at all.”
While many fans are probably hoping for a revival of the NieR franchise in 2027 (just in time for the 10th anniversary of Automata), it seems like chances of it coming true are slim for the time being. But given that Yoko Taro has been actively working on multiple projects these days, it might just be a matter of time before he announces something new.
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