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During the era of the Xbox 360 and PS3, Japanese game developers often tried to craft games that would resonate with Western audiences. Capcom was a prominent advocate of this movement, introducing titles like Lost Planet 2, which seemed like an attempt to endear American players to Monster Hunter by adding elements like guns and robots. Similarly, the edgy Devil May Cry reboot DmC: Devil May Cry followed this trend. However, in the recent past, Japanese games have deviated from this path, leading to tremendous success. Franchises such as Persona, Yakuza, Monster Hunter, and Nier have seen explosive growth in popularity over the last decade.
In a recent statement, former PlayStation head Shuhei Yoshida credited Nier: Automata with revitalizing the Japanese games industry, attributing its success to director Yoko Taro‘s approach of creating the game without concern for its international market potential. Yoko Taro has since responded to this praise, sharing an intriguing insight into the game’s development.
In a tweet, Yoko Taro expressed his gratitude for the acclaim, noting, however, that the idea to focus purely on the Japanese audience did not originate from him. He revealed, “It was Producer [Yosuke] Saito who gave the order to ‘make it for the Japanese market without worrying about overseas reviews.'” Yoko Taro further elaborated, recalling, “I remember being told something like, ‘Yokoo [sic], you can’t make games for overseas, so please try your best to make one for Japan at least.'”
Although Saito’s directive might have seemed blunt, he later clarified in a follow-up tweet, “I didn’t say that much. We’re Japanese, so we don’t need to try and force ourselves to be popular with people overseas.” Saito added optimistically, “On top of that, if we gather people from all over the world who like Japanese games made by a Japanese person (Yoko-san, the one and only), there should be about 1 million of them!”
The initial Nier game struggled commercially, with only around 500,000 copies sold, as Yoko Taro disclosed to GameInformer in 2019. Despite not being in the red, it wasn’t a pinnacle of success either. Therefore, the triumph of Automata was unexpected for many. It has become so influential that it boosted merchandise sales for Square Enix, and its protagonist, 2B, even appeared as a guest character in several games, such as Soul Calibur 6 and Monster Hunter Frontier Z.
Furthermore, Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has recently remarked that instead of aiming to create more “Americanized works,” Japanese developers should “seek the uniqueness and fun of Japanese games.”
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