As hard as it may be to believe, April 2020 will see the evocative mechanised world of NieR celebrate its tenth birthday. Square Enix has opened a new anniversary website ahead of the date, which has understandably set fans' tongues wagging as to any possible announcements that might mark the occasion.

A spin-off of the early '00s Drakengard series, NieR launched in 2010 for PS3 and Xbox 360, with Japan receiving the alternate editions NieR Replicant and NieR Gestalt respectively. The action-RPG didn't exactly win over critics, nor set sales alight, but did win over a selection of dedicated fans with its highly-stylised world and characters, the brainchild of director Yoko Taro, himself a co-creator of the Drakengard universe. Square Enix Unveils Website Celebrating Ten Years Of The NieR Series.

Nier would see greater success with its 2017 sequel NieR: Automata, helped by a heavy dose of typical PlatinumGames' hack-and-slash action and its stylish protagonist 2B, who fast brought an army of new fans into the fold. While still maintaining the series dystopian style and sombre mood, NieR: Automata was able to find far more success with critics, fans and cash registers, racking up over four million sales to date.

As to whether Square Enix or Yoko Taro has anything planned for the brand's 10th anniversary, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. But given Nier's new-found popularity since the release of Automata, there's little doubt that the franchise is set to continue in future.

Square Enix unveiled a new website for Yoko Taro’s Nier franchise. The website was revealed as NieR will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2020. The first NieR game launched in April 2010 on Xbox 360 and PS3. In Japan, in particular, each version had a different name, Nier Gestalt and Nier Replicant, with different protagonists and a slightly different story. NieR is also a spin-off of Drakengard, another series by Yoko Taro.

The latest game in the series, NieR Automata, launched in February 2017. NieR Automata is immensely popular. During the PlayStation Awards 2019 held on December 3, the game won the Platinum Prize and the PlayStation 25th Anniversary Users Choice Award. You’ve probably heard it already, but the first PlayStation is celebrating its 25th anniversary, hence why this award was made for the occasion.

I personally believe it’s highly likely Square Enix will be announcing a new NieR game at E3 2020. This will be the series’ 10th anniversary, and NieR Automata was similarly announced at E3 2015. Many fans of the original NieR were actually disappointed with NieR Automata, so maybe this hypothetical new game will be closer to the first one. I’m just hoping Akihiko Yoshida will be back as the character designer. He’s been one of my favorite artists ever since Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre.

You can access the NieR 10th anniversary website through this link. It’s only in a teaser state for now, with no particular piece of info. There are links for goods and the like. Square Enix mentioned additional information will be coming soon. We’ll be sure to tell you more as soon as possible so stay tuned.

If you want to read about Yoko Taro’s latest antics, we’ve translated his video interview for Atlus and Vanillaware’s new game, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. A NieR Automata novel was also announced, and the game is currently in Final Fantasy XIV.