The Nier community is currently aflutter after what some are taking to be a tease for Nier 3.
The apparent tease comes from the recent Nier: Orchestra Concert in London, where the word R3PENT was apparently displayed at the end of the show.
“Anecdote from the Nier London concert but Yoko Taro took the stage at the end, told the audience that the Square Enix president was in the crowd and that if we wanted an Automata sequel to give the loudest applause of the night,” said ResetEra user SanTheSly.
“The room immediately erupted into claps, cheers and yells. How much of what Taro said is true is up for debate but the case was made abundantly clear in person to Taro himself, at the very least. Mild concert content spoilers follow.
“Also at one point during the story of the show; the word REPENT was shown repeatedly as part of some dialogue. The final instance was spelled as R3PENT. Both me and the person I'd gone with picked up on it and wondered if this was a tease.”
That ResetEra post was picked up on elsewhere, and now Nier fans are wondering if it’s all leading towards the reveal of the much-wanted third game in the series. But as many fans have pointed out, R3PENT may be nothing more than a part of the concert. After all, Yoko Taro is known for having fun with Nier fans.
Earlier this month it emerged that publisher Tencent had cancelled an unannounced Nier mobile game that was in development for nearly two years. This followed the announcement that mobile game Nier Reincarnation would shut down in April. Nier franchise owner Square Enix has yet to comment.
Nier: Automata is seven years old with no new mainline game announced so far. Square Enix producer Yosuke Saito said in November 2023 that while Nier chief Yoko Taro is alive, another entry in the Nier series will be released at some point.
Action role-playing game Nier: Automata launched in 2017 and wowed critics and fans with its vast locations and zany combat. It was a surprise breakout hit for Square Enix and went on to sell an impressive eight million copies. There have been many crossover events since, plus Nier-related promotions, a remaster of the first game, and even a Nier anime.
Nier 3, then, would make a lot of sense. It seems a matter of when, not if.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
