NieR Fan Festival Tease

Update: In hindsight, we really should have just waited a few minutes before posting about the NieR: Automata Fan Festival. The event is now live in Japan, and the NieR 'tease' posted to Twitter by Square Enix director and producer Yosuke Saito was not related to a new project.

No, the black card was actually covering a slice of information, stating that NieR Automata has now sold 7 million copies. Congratulations are in order, we suppose.


Original Story: NieR fans have woken up today to rampant speculation about the potential announcement of a new project. It all stems from Square Enix producer and director Yosuke Saito, who has posted a photo to Twitter, showing a soon-to-be-used stage. Said stage is going to be part of this weekend's NieR: Automata Fan Festival, which is taking place at the Tokyo Garden Theater in Japan.

As you can see, there seems to be a hidden logo on the stage design. Logos for previous titles NieR Replicant and NieR: Automata are clearly visible, but then a third logo is covered by a piece of black card. Saito even teases this fact in his tweet.

And so, everyone's wondering what the card is covering. Obviously, the most exciting answer is that a new game could be announced during the event — but honestly, who knows with NieR? We would probably advise against setting your expectations too high, although it does feel like we're due a new instalment. Automata released for PS4 over five years ago, after all.

It's worth mentioning, though, that this is going to be a relatively low-key event — it's not some massive NieR showcase or anything. Key members of the development team, including series writer and director Yoko Taro, are set to host panels, and music from the games will be performed by a live band. We're not sure if this is the kind of place where Square Enix would reveal a whole new game in what has become a fairly popular franchise — but again, you never know.

[source twitter.com, via videogameschronicle.com]