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Via @Genki_JPN on Twitter

Shuhei Yoshida says NieR: Automata was the game that revived the Japanese games industry after it struggled chasing overseas trends in the PS3 era.

"I think Yoko Taro made it without thinking whether or not it would sell overseas. However, it was a huge hit overseas.

From there it became clear that Japanese creators were making 'Japanese things' and those things were selling overseas. Everyone realized that with NieR.

It wasn't just a matter of saying 'It's okay to do it like that', but "we have to do it like that'. So the direction of Japanese creators became 'let's stop imitating overseas countries anymore', 'if we create things with our own culture and that we understand, they will understand it overseas'.

I think the Japanese game industry was revived after NieR so much so that I would say it was before NieR and after NieR. To put it simply, I think NieR: Automata was the title that made people realize "let's make something Japanese."

Full interview in Japanese can be found here - https://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/series/rt/2001799.html

Update: Here's Yoko Taro's response on this news story:

I was just sent a message. I'm honored that Automata is being praised, but it was Producer Saito who gave the order to "make it for the Japanese market without worrying about overseas reviews.

"To be more precise, I remember being told something like, "Yokoo, you can't make games for overseas, so please try your best to make one for Japan at least."

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

GLORY TO MISTER SHU

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Yeah the PS360 era was bad for Japan

There were several reasons for this, trends that all came together at the same time.



- Porting from PC became easier, so western PC developers like Bethesda, BioWare and Irrational suddenly had a new audience and already had experience with HD

- Arcades dying, when new consoles launched they’d often get ports of technically impressive Japanese arcade games, PS3 and 360 had very few

- Handhelds gaining prominence in Japan meant focus was put on DS and PSP

- Unreal Engine 3 had no Japanese documentation or support, Epic changed all this when rolling out Unreal Engine 4



These combined meant that Capcom, Konami, Sega, Square and Namco’s console output really suffered and they didn’t catch up until around 2017 in the PS4One generation.

Meanwhile business and political interests started to severely damage American game production.

Today we’re back to the late 90s/early 00s where Japan is on top

 

[N0S]

 

[Kilau]

So basically:

Saved Japanese gaming.

 

[Nankatsu]

I would go with this:

 

[FewRope]

Not even close lmao

 

[ssringo]

Really? I mean, he was in a pretty good position see the trend. It just sounds strange to say.

That said, Nier Automata is my all time #1 game.

 

[Boss Mog]

The resurgence of Japanese games has more to do with Western games going in a direction that a lot of gamers don't want rather than Japanese games becoming amazing all of a sudden.

 

[Punished Miku]

The resurgence of Japanese games has more to do with Western games going in a direction that a lot of gamers don't want rather than Japanese games becoming amazing all of a sudden.

I thought it was mostly the PS3 Cell being done on PS4 and Switch, and companies catching up on engine revisions that enable open world after struggling for a decade with it. Capcom put out very little because of Panty Raid Engine bombing until RE Engine was done. SQEX shit the bed with Crystal Tools. After that, they pretty much just made series they always have for the most part. NieR is one of the only notable new IP, and I don't see anyone else trying risky stuff like that actually.

The era of trying to copy western stuff like Quantum Theory and Mindjack ended long before NieR in my opinion just from bombing over and over.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

My game of the generation (alongside Mario Odyssey) and cemented Japan’s return to dominance for me.

 

[Woopah]

The resurgence of Japanese games has more to do with Western games going in a direction that a lot of gamers don't want rather than Japanese games becoming amazing all of a sudden.

Im not sure that's true. Japanese publishers struggled on PS3/360/Wii and are in a lot better position now on PS5/XBS/NSW

 

[nowhat]

I had no connection to the franchise (or Drakengard for that matter). Saw the trailers, thought, "cool", but wasn't still quite into it.

Then I played the demo. That end boss music, Ho Lee Fuk. I just had to get the game. In fact, I got the "NieR: Automata t-shirt"-edition. Sadly though, the shirt was too big (well, nowadays it may have been comfortable - since Covid, I've grown as a person, mostly horizontally) and the print was too heavy/the shirt was of too poor quality. The Emil face started to rip out pretty quickly.

 

[SimTourist]

I'd add Monster Hunter World and Yakuza 0 to that list, massive explosion of interest in the west compared to previous games even though they're essentially the same since ps2 days

 

[Felessan]

The resurgence of Japanese games has more to do with Western games going in a direction that a lot of gamers don't want rather than Japanese games becoming amazing all of a sudden.

It's actually not about competing to west but rather finding its own path and surviving, that works great for them now when western dev has identity crisis.

In a period describing Japan SP games devs were really struggling, local market rapidly shrinked to portable and then mobile and way to survive was to look west, which was uncharted and unfriendly. Imitating west (to which SE still try to hold to their losses) provide unfruitful results and switching back to make Japanese things but targeted to global made the difference.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Utter tosh.

Capcom got it early in on the 360

 

[Mr Hyde]

Shinji Mikami was once quoted in a interview about the Japanese games industry struggling during PS360 era saying: "All we need is one hit. A big hit, that show us the way forward."

Nier Automata was that hit. It was also a very unexpected success since nobody really believed in it, save from maybe Square Enix and Platinum who decided to bring back the franchise. If anyone remember, the original Nier, which ironically was created during the PS360 era, flopped so hard Yoko Taros studio Cavia went under and he became a freelance game designer. The only reason Nier was resurrected was it's vocal fanbase and the games cult status.

However, I would like to add Resident Evil 7 and the rise of From Software as contributors to the Japanese games industry healing its wounds. Capcom struggled hard with their franchises during this time and RE6 was universally panned by fans and critics. RE7 brought Capcom back to the limelight and kickstarted their now infamous "Capgod" status where they are delivering massive hits after hits.

From Software built a hardcore following with Dark Souls which has now culminated in Elden Ring selling 30 something million copies. From Softwares success is unmatched in the industry considering they were complete nobody's for 30 years and now all of a sudden they are the world's most respected studio with a massive fanbase.

 

[Kasane89]

Thats BS. Japanese Devs are chasing western trends harder than ever, yes even PS360. But for some reason nobody complains anymore. MH Wilds, Atelier Yumia, Final Fantasy 7 Remake games, Resident Evil 4 Remake etc are all examples. They mainly get away with it because Western Studios are ruining themselves with extreme ideologies and almost decade long AAAA-development cycles

The truth is sales nowadays in japan itself is peanuts.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Utter tosh.

Capcom got it early in on the 360

Hmm

Dead Rising, Lost Planet and Street Fighter IV were decent

Devil May Cry 4 was unfinished

Resident Evil 5 and 6 were trash.

DMC, well I have no words

 

[Boss Mog]

Im not sure that's true. Japanese publishers struggled on PS3/360/Wii and are in a lot better position now on PS5/XBS/NSW

That generation is when Western studios began to thrive pushing the boundaries of what games could be, while the Japanese studios were still stuck making games based on PS2 concepts and designs. The PS4 solidified the West's dominance despite Japan catching up a bit. Sony's western studio launched new IPs like Spider-man, Ghost of Tsushima and Horizon which became huge hits. Sadly it all went downhill from there which is why the sequels to those games have sold less and why a lot of western games these days have failed to sell significant numbers despite soaring budgets.

 

[Woopah]

That generation is when Western studios began to thrive pushing the boundaries of what games could be, while the Japanese studios were still stuck making games based on PS2 concepts and designs. The PS4 solidified the West's dominance despite Japan catching up a bit. Sony's western studio launched new IPs like Spider-man, Ghost of Tsushima and Horizon which became huge hits. Sadly it all went downhill from there which is why the sequels to those games have sold less and why a lot of western games these days have failed to sell significant numbers despite soaring budgets.

It's true that Western publishers have struggled but even if you ignore the West that's a clear step up from Japanese developers.

Capcom for example has a much better console output than it used to and that's not because of the struggles of Western publishers.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Hmm

Dead Rising, Lost Planet and Street Fighter IV were decent

Devil May Cry 4 was unfinished

Resident Evil 5 and 6 were trash.

DMC, well I have no words

This isn't about games being good but about Japanese developed games selling well in the 360/PS3 era

Unlike most Japanese developers, Capcom bet big on next gen AAA productions for the 360, and it paid off, while Japanse developers went all in for mobile and wii graphics and that cost them dear until they woke up and spent big on AAA productions for the consoles

 

[Aion002]

Nope. It was actually Dark Souls, the spiritual sequel of the game that he hated:

Shuhei Yoshida Thought Demon's Souls Was Rubbish

Sony’s biggest mistake

www.pushsquare.com

For me this guy is on the same level of Phil Spencer and Don Mattrick...

Souls fans should never forget or forgive him from trying to kill the beginning of the Souls games.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

This isn't about games being good but about Japanese developed games selling well in the 360/PS3 era

Unlike most Japanese developers, Capcom bet big on next gen AAA productions for the 360, and it paid off, while Japanse developers went all in for mobile and wii graphics and that cost them dear until they woke up and spent big on AAA productions for the consoles

Once you’ve had a successful franchise or brand you can get away with a couple of bad efforts and still sell well.

Speaking of mobile, the iPhone launched the same year as PS3 in the UK.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

This is more evidence that just because you're in a position of power doesn't mean you know what you're talking about.

This game came out in 2017. I don't think it spawned some rejuvenation of Japanese culturally oriented game development anymore than a game like Monster Hunter World.

I don't think Japanese games weren't selling because they tried to push to be western, although that didn't help. I think they didn't sell well because they were so behind technically and they still are.

Outside of maybe Kojima Productions, I don't really know of any technical sound Japanese development teams in the AAA space. They're still seemingly a generation behind.

 

[adamsapple]

Respectfully disagree, Shu.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

This isn't about games being good but about Japanese developed games selling well in the 360/PS3 era

Unlike most Japanese developers, Capcom bet big on next gen AAA productions for the 360, and it paid off, while Japanse developers went all in for mobile and wii graphics and that cost them dear until they woke up and spent big on AAA productions for the consoles

huh...Capcom was going through many issues during that time, including financial ones. That's why this phase that they are going through right now and have been going through for years is refreshing because they don't miss a beat , unlike back then. It's night and day.

Yes they were doing AAA titles but that doesn't mean the games were good. It has nothing to do with sales. Going from RE4 and then what happened with 5 and then 6 was painful. Now look where the IP is in 2025. Huge step up!

Devil May Cry from 4 to 5 was a huge step up.

You have the latest like 3 Monster Hunter games that basically reached new highs for the AAA titles in the series.

There's more examples.

Capcom was not in a good place that era.

 

[Idleyes]

Dark Souls hands down. I think it doesn't get the props in Shu's eyes because it was a Japanese attempt at a western RPG rather than a solely (pun intended) Japanese game.

Edit: Honorable mention Monster Hunter.

 

[nowhat]

Utter tosh.

Capcom got it early in on the 360

Yes, all those revivals of old franchises like Bionic Commando just went swimmingly, didn't they.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Yes, all those revivals of old franchises like Bionic Commando just went swimmingly, didn't they.

That wasn't a big AAA title, much less made In-House at Capcom Japan

huh...Capcom was going through many issues during that time, including financial one

Capcom have over the years, have had money issues right down to their property investments. The point was that Kenji bet big on AAA In-House predictions for the Western 360 and it paid off, and Capcom to their credit, made one of the best multi platform engines around at the time and have carried on that great engine work

Once you’ve had a successful franchise or brand you can get away with a couple of bad efforts and still sell well.

Speaking of mobile, the iPhone launched the same year as PS3 in the UK.

That isn't always the case and Capcom Japan took a risk not only betting on the 360 but also making new IPs like Dead Rising and Lost Planet, and it paid off for them. Like so many Japanese developers lost a lot of ground in terms of gfx and AAA productions not least my beloved SEGA Japan, until they started to wake up with the likes of the Hedgehog engine

 

[Punished Miku]

huh...Capcom was going through many issues during that time, including financial ones. That's why this phase that they are going through right now and have been going through for years is refreshing because they don't miss a beat , unlike back then. It's night and day.

Yes they were doing AAA titles but that doesn't man the games were good. It has nothing to do with sales. Going from RE4 and then what happened with 5 and then 6 was painful. Now look where the IP is in 2025. Huge step up!

Devil May Cry from 4 to 5 was a huge step up.

You have the latest like 3 Monster Hunter games that basically reached new highs for the AAA titles in the series.

There's more examples.

Capcom was not in a good place that era.

Let me tell you the tale of Keiji Inafune ...

 

[SomeNorseGuy]

I know shit about which specific games helped turn things around for Japanese games, I just know that Nier: Automata is fucking amazing. What a ride!

 

[SoraNoKuni]

Nier Automata is probably my all time favorite game, so I guess I agree.

 

[StueyDuck]

I don't know about saved, but it definitely was a game that made people pay attention more to AA(lower budget AAA) japanese games. They were getting pretty rubbish especially during the PS360 late era

 

[Loomy]

The resurgence of Japanese games has more to do with Western games going in a direction that a lot of gamers don't want rather than Japanese games becoming amazing all of a sudden.

Nah, Japan was sending us trash for most of the 7th gen.

 

[Madserb2023]

People act like Nintendo doesn't exist.

 

[EntelechyFuff]

As hard as the PS360 gen was on Japanese devs, I think we started to see them set things right even back then.

Street Fighter 4 certainly isn't getting enough credit, and Dragon's Dogma, for all it's warts, absolutely touched a live wire. Really I think Capcom is the one who charted the path here (and continues to do so).

Credit where credit is due for Dark Souls, but I think those games still occupy a very unique space in gaming. Like, if "japanese devs" had never gotten back on track, FromSoft and the growing genre of soulslikes would continue to be independently successful IMO.

 

[Loomy]

People act like Nintendo doesn't exist.

During the period Shuhei Yoshida is talking about, Nintendo was trying to survive the Wii U. So yeah, they almost didn't exist at the time.

 

[Zacfoldor]

 

[SkylineRKR]

He might be correct.

Though Yakuza 0 also was a surprise hit just before Automata came out. It trounced sales of PS3 yakuza games.

Utter tosh.

Capcom got it early in on the 360

Capcom was one of the few that understood development for these consoles, but Inafundme took a U-turn and outsourced to western studios and put a heavy emphasis on co-op gameplay.

They weren't so revered when they ruined Dead Rising and Lost Planet, and outsourced DMC to Ninja Theory. They ruined RE too, after the already controversial RE5. They weren't in a good spot during the back half of this gen.

 

[Perrott]

As hard as the PS360 gen was on Japanese devs, I think we started to see them set things right even back then.

Street Fighter 4 certainly isn't getting enough credit, and Dragon's Dogma, for all it's warts, absolutely touched a live wire. Really I think Capcom is the one who charted the path here (and continues to do so).

Credit where credit is due for Dark Souls, but I think those games still occupy a very unique space in gaming. Like, if "japanese devs" had never gotten back on track, FromSoft and the growing genre of soulslikes would continue to be independently successful IMO.

Other than Kojima Productions, Japan Studio, Atlus and mid to late PS3 era FromSoftware, I'd say that most Japanese companies were still deep in the process of figuring how to get their shit together:

• Capcom was still outsourcing most of their IP to Western developers and the biggest bet coming out of their Japanese teams was... Resident Evil 6.
• Square Enix was still recovering from the failure of OG Final Fantasy XIV, were for some reason fixated on putting out uninspired Final Fantasy XIII sequels and, for christ sake, they even cancelled Nomura's Versus XIII - the most promising and inspired Japanese-developed title they had in the works - in mid 2012, only to have it's creator's vision bastardized by the Frankenstein of ALL bad Western influences that was Final Fantasy XV. They did let Taro work on NieR and Drakengard 3, although given the zero marketing that was put behind those titles, one could argue that none of those were an actual creative bet from SE's POV (like Automata was), but rather a rounding error in their balance sheet.
• Bandai Namco, save for publishing Demon's Souls, was producing anime fighters and JRPG slop, while simultaneously making Ace Combat and Ridge Racer hit rock bottom, with the latter's final original entry even being made by a Western studio. They did put out a Katamari game at the launch of the Vita, I'll give them that.
• Koei Tecmo didn't release a single remarkable product in the decade that separated the releases of Ninja Gaiden II for the Xbox 360 and Nioh for the PS4, the latter of which coincidentally came out at the same time as NieR:Automata.
• Konami were already planning out their withdrawal from the console gaming market, either consciously or unconsciously, by putting put mediocre to garbage levels of Western-developed titles for the most part, with only the Kojima Productions-adjacent stuff being worth any attention.

 

[Clear]

Nope. It was actually Dark Souls, the spiritual sequel of the game that he hated:

Shuhei Yoshida Thought Demon's Souls Was Rubbish

Sony’s biggest mistake

www.pushsquare.com

For me this guy is on the same level of Phil Spencer and Don Mattrick...

Souls fans should never forget or forgive him from trying to kill the beginning of the Souls games.

You're wrong.

First of all, what Yoshida is commenting on are games with a specifically JAPANESE flavour. Which frankly, FROM abandoned to a large degree by the late 2000's. Demon's and Dark Souls were plays for the western market. Sure there's some Asian elements in the weapons and armour, but they are predominantly based on European Gothic and Medievel styles.

Also, Yoshida only judged what he had before him. Builds that by Miyazaki's own admission were in rough shape with the game only coming together very late on.

Most importantly, the significant thing about Nier is that it was only really considered a mild success in Japan, that a sequel was green-lit cannot be put down to Western interest. All the merch (books, soundtracks, etc.) which kept the franchise alive in the 7 year gap between Gestalt/Replicant and Automata was only released in Japan. Even more significant, when making the sequel Yoko was allowed to essentially bin the Americanized Gestalt variant and design the game with its Anime/Manga inspirations unobscured by elements to pander to western tastes in action games.

That it succeeded on its own merits says a lot about how the outlook had changed between 2009 and 2017. That it also essentially saved Platinum from going under also needs to be considered.

 

[nowhat]

That it also essentially saved Platinum from going under

At the time, sure. These days, I'm not so certain for the future of Platinum.

 

[Aion002]

You're wrong.

First of all, what Yoshida is commenting on are games with a specifically JAPANESE flavour. Which frankly, FROM abandoned to a large degree by the late 2000's. Demon's and Dark Souls were plays for the western market. Sure there's some Asian elements in the weapons and armour, but they are predominantly based on European Gothic and Medievel styles.

Also, Yoshida only judged what he had before him. Builds that by Miyazaki's own admission were in rough shape with the game only coming together very late on.

Most importantly, the significant thing about Nier is that it was only really considered a mild success in Japan, that a sequel was green-lit cannot be put down to Western interest. All the merch (books, soundtracks, etc.) which kept the franchise alive in the 7 year gap between Gestalt/Replicant and Automata was only released in Japan. Even more significant, when making the sequel Yoko was allowed to essentially bin the Americanized Gestalt variant and design the game with its Anime/Manga inspirations unobscured by elements to pander to western tastes in action games.

That it succeeded on its own merits says a lot about how the outlook had changed between 2009 and 2017. That it also essentially saved Platinum from going under also needs to be considered.

That's an excuse. Atlus saw how unique and cool Demon's Souls was and decided to publish it on the west, while Yoshida hated and didn't bother with it.

He simply didn't understood or liked the great things of the game.

If he had, he would have tried to polish the game rather than just bash it and call it rubbish. In this case he failed at his job, just like he failed when he greenlighted new live sevices studios, in particularly the Concord devs.

Anyway, Dark Souls success was gigantic, it started a triology that ended up being extremely successful and made From Software one of the most highly rated video game studios. Dark Souls basically was the creation a new genre of games, that even now is extremely popular and has new games inspired by it being announced constantly.

Also, Dark Souls has more "Japanese flavour" for me than the wacky stuff that comes out of Yoko Taro's mind. As someone that played most of his games at launch... His games are just too unique.

 

[Puscifer]

Utter tosh.

Capcom got it early in on the 360

Seriously, MT Framework is one if the greatest engines ever created

 

[Quartermuncher]

Sounds about right.

It came out the same week as Zelda BOTW and made it look like crap. Not that it is, Automata is just that good.

 

[Brigandier]

Really? I mean, he was in a pretty good position see the trend. It just sounds strange to say.

That said, Nier Automata is my all time #1 game.

I have to admit I went into this game about a year after release knowing nothing about it, man it hooked me in big time. 10/10 game for me.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

It was a combo of games I think that arrived early-mid in the PS4 gen which began to put Japanese games back on the radar in a big way, including:

-Neir Automata
-Yakuza 0
-Persona 5
-Bloodborne
-DQXI
-RE2 + RE7
-FFXIV

I'm sure I'm missing a ton.

Automata was a big one though as it was weird as fuck and sold a shit load of copies, 9mil or something now and will crack 10mil.

 

[Humdinger]

I thought the part I played (Part A) was pretty good. I didn't play Part B, because I didn't want to replay 6 hours of gameplay. Earlier, I'd almost quit when the tutorial required me to replay 30 minutes of that, after I died. I hate it when games waste my time. The first part was good, but not good enough to want to repeat 6 hours of.

I guess I missed out on the greatness that is Nier Automata, but aspects of the game design bugged me.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Capcom was one of the few that understood development for these consoles, but Inafundme took a U-turn and outsourced to western studios and put a heavy emphasis on co-op gameplay.

They weren't so revered when they ruined Dead Rising and Lost Planet, and outsourced DMC to Ninja Theory. They ruined RE too, after the already controversial RE5. They weren't in a good spot during the back half of this gen.

Outsourcing Lost Planet was a mistake but Capcom made 2 great games before hand. I don't agree with you over RE5 or 6 and Capcom also made the awesome Dragon's Dogma, which sold millions.
Capcom had invested in the best multi platform multi purpose engine, and also was investing in opening up 2 new R&D buildings in 2014.

Capcom have been in various money problems over the years that is nothing new