To commemorate the collaboration between Shift Up’s two titles Goddess Of Victory: NIKKE and Stellar Blade, the official PC release of Stellar Blade and the 15th anniversary of NieR:Automata, a special livestream featuring the directors of these three titles took place on June 10. A rerun of the NIKKE and NieR collaboration was also announced for July 3, and Yoko Taro mentioned, though as a joke, that he probably regrets that collaboration – mostly because NIKKE keeps stealing all the sexy cosplayers from the Nier fanbase.
In an “unexpected praise session” segment of the livestream, former Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida described what he liked about all three of the titles, noting that he was amazed by NIKKE’s cast of characters and how the game was designed to show their back sides when you play – “My reaction was, Well this game just won.” It was not too long before huge billboards featuring NIKKE characters started popping up all around Tokyo, he added.
To further illustrate the allure of NIKKE’s characters, Yoko Taro brought up a previous collaboration between NieR:Automata and NIKKE. This collaboration introduced a lot of Nier fans to the world of NIKKE, and vice versa, but what Yoko didn’t expect is that many Nier cosplayers, especially the ones who prefer wearing more revealing outfits, would eventually completely switch to cosplaying NIKKE characters. “I wondered, maybe we shouldn’t have done this collab,” he joked.
To wrap up the livestream, Yoko also commented: “Both NIKKE and Stellar Blade are incredibly high-quality titles, and to be honest, I feel intimidated and no longer want to be part of the same industry.” His comments may sound slightly ironic sometimes, but under them lies a lot of respect for his colleagues and their work.
The rerun of the Goddess of Victory: NIKKE x NieR:Automata collaboration goes live on July 3. Additionally, Stellar Blade launches for PC on June 11, while the official collaboration between Goddess of Victory: NIKKE and Stellar Blade starts the following day, on June 12.
Related articles: Yoko Taro says Stellar Blade is “much better” than NieR: Automata, but Hyung-Tae Kim thinks it can’t compete
I can’t help but smile at Yoko Taro’s slightly out there comments. Always amusing with a serious undertone, considering his games.