During a recent appearance at a video game convention, NieR: Automata creator Yoko Taro addressed complaints and jokes from some fans online saying that the enigmatic creator hasn’t put out any big new games in years. According to Taro, it’s not from lack of trying, but instead due to frequent cancellations.
As reported by Automaton Media and 4Gamer, over the weekend in Korea, Yoko Taro (who always wears a mask in public) and Bayonetta director Hideki Kamiya took part in a panel discussion at G-CON 2025. The two game makers talked about game development, design, and their creative processes. At one point, the two game developers were asked to share some information on their latest game projects, and while Kamiya mentioned work was going well on the previously announced Okami sequel, Taro didn’t have much to share because his projects kept getting canceled.
“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,” said Taro.
“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.”
Taro wasn’t too sad about all the canned projects, though, explaining that he is staying optimistic and telling the convention-goers that he’d rather fail many times if it leads to making something good rather than releasing a bunch of not-so-great games.
“I don’t view [the cancellations] as a negative thing,” explained Taro. “I believe that if I’m going to release something weird, I’d be better off not releasing anything at all.”
